Nemesis or Lovers?
by Dranne
Summary: Voldemort is defeated. Harry has been crowned with all sorts of happiness in his life involving a family, group of best friends for life and the title of The Golden Boy. Life is well. Or is it? With the Malfoy heirloom killed at the war Harry struggles his way through the hauntings of a particular dead Malfoy. that is until one day. . . Read to find out!
1. Life gets better Or does it?

Nemesis or Lovers?

"Harry, my dear how have you been? I've been sick worried of you the entire time and pardon me boy but I really do think you have shrunken yourself into a malnourished deer over the period of just two days." Mrs. Weasley's voice scooted over the entire dungeons as she hurriedly made her way towards Harry who had just flooed himself down the dungeons along with his godfather Sirius and Remus. Sirius snickered at that comment making Molly Weasley shoot a deadly glare at him. She knew it was a reckless idea to let Harry out of her sight along with Sirius and Remus even tough it was barely for two days. Remus smiled broadly at Molly as he and Harry exchanged rather amused expressions at Sirius's funny face.

"Uh, I'm spectacular Mrs. Weasley, thank you." said Harry while trying to brush off the dust from his mop of unruly hair and maroon sweatshirt that he had been wearing. He found Remus do the same behind him and a sense of happiness fluttered within him to think of his Godfather being just like him in so many ways that he had lately realized, this being one more moment of that.

He had been staying with Sirius and Remus the entire summer at the dungeons along with the Weasleys after the Battle of Hogwarts was fought and Harry had defeated the so-called Drak Lord, Voldemort. With Voldemort gone and the dark side fallen, Hogwarts had truly breathed the air of relief after so long. And to the whole wizarding world Harry Potter was their savior, _the-boy-who-lived-twice_. With the fall of the Dark Lord, all of his little minions that swore to call themselves as Death Eaters had been captured and sent to Azkaban by the Ministry. Bellatrix had been killed in the war along with her lover, Voldemort and somehow Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had met the same fate.

The next day Day edition of Daily Prophet held the news in a very grand way entitling Harry as _THE GOLDEN BOY_ that saved the wizarding world and apparently became God to the wizarding community. The Daily Prophet had also stated that there had been clearance of all the suspected Death Eaters from the community and their world was once again safe. Though one tiny bit of news had stuck Harry right in the nerve that stated the Malfoy's dead and an end to their family tree.

 _Has the whole Malfoy family been killed? Has he been killed?_ Harry had shruddered at the thought.

 _Was Draco Malfoy dead?_

* * *

For a few days after the battle had been won, Harry had to stay at Hogwarts because he had no proper family to return to. Ofcourse Molly and Arthur were more than eager to willingly accept Harry as their adopted child but something with that proposal didn't quite seem appealing to Harry. Though he did love the Weasleys and was heartily gratified, he did not feel quite ready to be an official part of their family, not yet. That was just when Sirius and Remus had shown up and declared Harry as their adopted son. Harry had never in his whole life felt happier than he did at that moment. He had willingly moved in with Sirius and Remus at 12, Grimmauld Place. But they had spent almost the entire summer staying at the dungeons with the Weasleys on Molly's request. It was later the month when Sirius had suggested that they should probably take a break and go to their _own_ home for a while. And right now that was just from where they had returned.

Harry glanced around the dungeon's room to spot Ron, Ginny, Fred, George and ofcourse Hermione. He had been expecting to see them first thing when he had flooed down and he wanted nothing more than to hug his best friends and let the feeling of home sink in his bones. He somehow knew Hermione would be there too, being Ron's girlfriend and everything, but also he knew Hermione would never miss the chance of being with the Weasleys. Neither would he. Harry smiled at the thought and looked around him again to find his little group of buddies. They were no where to be seen. He raised a keen eyebrow towards Arthur Weasley who was standing just behind Molly and as if he knew what Harry was gesturing about he spoke on que- "Ah, Harry, Ron has just gone to Diagon Alley along with Hermione and Ginny to buy out their school supplies for the upcoming year. And Freddy and Georgey are accompanying them. Well we were not quite sure when you would be arriving back here so Molly insisted them to be through with their shopping as soon as possible."

Harry nodded. Hogwarts had officially allowed the students of seventh-year to rejoin the school for their eighth year reviewing the events that lead to the disruption of their academic year. Harry had been invited to join too. Although Ron, Hermione and Ginny had happily accepted their invitations and pleaded harry to come, he had declined the invitation in order to organize his new-voldemort-and-all-his-dark-fears-free life and spend more of his time with his new family. Sirius and Remus had been understanding and approved of Harry's decision. Harry smiled back at Arthur. Then he turned around to walk into the kitchen when he realized his little stomach was being grumpy, again.

Biting down on Molly Weasley's deliciously baked pancakes Harry let his mind wander.

The summer had been quite eventful with celebrations for their victory over the dark side to Harry finally being able to have a proper family with his Godfathers to the opening of the twin's own shop down at Diagon Alley 'The Weasleys Wizarding Weezes' to Ron's proposal for Hermione. All had been well.

Yet there was something missing. Harry was extremely happy about his new found life but he felt a small hole bored into his chest the moment he had heard the news. The news of The Malfoy heirloom all dead. He knew it was a good thing that the world was now free from the paws of evil and vicious Lucius Malfoy but he also regretted the death of Narcissa. She had saved his life at the war. And he felt a pang of guilt down in his heart for not being able to save her life back. Yet there was something more than guilt that enveloped his mind everytime he let it wander around a particular Malfoy. He had shuddered at the news of Draco Malfoy being dead. He had felt pain and gloom and an unpleasant wave of an unknowing emotion. Agony? He never knew he could feel anything like that for anyone in his life, and feeling that for Draco Malfoy was out of question. Still, he had felt it. He remembered a stray tear that had fallen down his cheek when he had vividly imagined green jolts of the killing curse that would have snatched him of his life. Cold shivers of fear and pain had ran down his spine on those mere images his mind had made. Could he possibly feel that way for his arched nemesis? More than that, should he let those feelings creep in his being? He did not know. But nevertheless he always found himself cradled in those thoughts.

 _Was Draco Malfoy really dead? He can't be. He shouldn't be._


	2. A ghost from my Past

**Chapter 2**

Draco Malfoy was standing with his back to the door, his hands clutching either side of the sink, his white-blond head bowed.

"Don't," crooned Moaning Myrtle's voice from one of the cubicles. "Don't . . . tell me what's wrong . . . I can help you. . . ."

"No one can help me," said Malfoy. His whole body was shaking. "I can't do it. . . . I can't. . . . It won't work . . . and unless I do it soon . . . he says he'll kill me. . ."

And Harry realized, with a shock so huge it seemed to root him to the spot, that Malfoy was crying — actually crying — tears streaming down his pale face into the grimy basin. Malfoy gasped and gulped and then, with a great shudder, looked up into the cracked mirror and saw Harry staring at him over his shoulder.

Malfoy wheeled around, drawing his wand. Instinctively, Harry pulled out his own. Malfoy's hex missed Harry by inches, shattering the lamp on the wall beside him; Harry threw himself sideways, thought Levicorpus! and flicked his wand, but Malfoy blocked the jinx and raised his wand for another —

"No! No! Stop it!" squealed Moaning Myrtle, her voice echoing loudly around the tiled room. "Stop! STOP!"

There was a loud bang and the bin behind Harry exploded; Harry attempted a Leg-Locker Curse that backfired off the wall behind Malfoy's ear and smashed the cistern beneath Moaning Myrtle, who screamed loudly; water poured everywhere and Harry slipped as Malfoy, his face contorted, cried, "Cruci —" "SECTUMSEMPRA!" bellowed Harry from the floor, waving his wand wildly.

Blood spurted from Malfoy's face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backward and collapsed onto the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.

"No —" gasped Harry. Slipping and staggering, Harry got to his feet and plunged toward Malfoy, whose face was now shining scarlet, his white hands scrabbling at his blood-soaked chest.

"No — I didn't —" Harry did not know what he was saying; he fell to his knees beside Malfoy, who was shaking uncontrollably in a pool of his own blood. Moaning Myrtle let out a deafening scream: "MURDER! MURDER IN THE BATHROOM! MURDER!"

"Blimey, Harry. WAKE UP! WAKE UP YOU GIT!"

"NO. I didn-"

"HARRY! WAKE UP. YOU ARE DREAMING AGAIN. WAKE UP!" Ron growled.

Harry jolted up in the bed when he heard the word Dreaming and tried to open his eyes, desperately wanting to clear his head of whatever nightmare he just had. Just as he tried to open his eyes, he squinted at the bright sunlight that peered through the window. He shut them back again.

"Bloody hell," he mumbled.

"Oh Harry, are you alright?" he heard a faint female voice. Hermione. He smiled still with his eyes shut.

Slowly he opened his eyes again, letting them get adjusted to the sunlit room and held his hand above his face to tousle his raven hair, looking back at his two best friends sitting by the side of his bed.

"Harry, merlin, you're bloody sweating like a chicken placed on top of a frying-pan" Ron mumbled, shaking his head dismissively.

And just then realization dawned upon him. He had been dreaming, yet again. It had been the same dream for the hundredth time now, ever since the war was fought. No, it wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare. Only that the nightmare had felt - oh so real. But wait, it was. It wasn't even a nightmare. It was real. He had nearly killed Draco Malfoy with his own hands, in their sixth year.

He shook his head as he rubbed away the sweat from his forhead.

"I'm fine guys. Really. It was just a random nightmare, I guess." He spoke as he tried to sit back straight by the head-board of Ron Weasley's four poster bed.

"Yeah. Now c'mmon mate, hurry up. We're going to be late for breakfast and I don't reckon Mum would be very pleased about that." Ron said with a hint of fear in his voice. Clearly he still was very terrified of Molly Weasley even though he was now eighteen years old and about to get married.

"Oh yeah, I'll be down in a minute. You guys go on. I just need to get fresh and wash my mouth. I bloody smell of sweat and pancakes!" he bellowed.

Ron snorted and patted Harry on the back. Then turning around he glanced at Hermione, cueing her to go down with him.

Hermione held up a finger at Ron who understood her gesture and swiftly hurried downstairs.

Once Hermione saw Ron's retreating back, she glanced back at Harry who looked clearly – worried?

"Harry, what's wrong?" she put a comforting hand over Harry's knee and waited expectantly for him to answer.

"I don't really know 'Mione." Harry shuddered, for the third time in the past 12 hours.

"I've been having these nightmares all summer. The same ones. To be honest, those aren't even nightmares, they're these vivid memories of-"

"HARRY!" "HERMIONE!" "COME DOWN NOW MY DEAR, WE'RE ALL WAITING FOR YOU." Molly Weasley's voice echoed from the kitchen.

Both Harry and Hermione shared a look at each other. And laughed. Surely Molly was the one dead-ass punctual mother that Ron had every right to be fearful of. As they were about to walk down, Hermione turned back at Harry giving him a look that clearly stated 'this-talk-isn't-over-yet'. Harry nodded in agreement and they both ran down.

"Just In time." Sirius greeted Harry and Hermione as they paced down towards the kitchen.

Remus gave Harry a warm hug wishing him good morning. And just then they heard Sirius animatedly sniff in his handkerchief "AWW. Finally my family has been complete." Sniff. "Look at our happy-little-family, Remy. Just look." Another longer sniff. And moments later, the burrow echoed of roars of laughter at Sirius's little drama.

Breakfast had been blissful. They had joked, laughed, shared many memories and planned for Ron's and Hermione's upcoming wedding. Fred and George had also pranked Sirius by placing magical eggnogs in his plate that had burst open and spilled everywhere over his head and face once he picked at them with his fork. Ofcourse that had been followed by a fifteen-minute-whining from the ultimate drama-queen, 'Sirius Melodramatic Black'. Yeah, that's what Remus had called him. And again the table had been filled with all sorts of laughs and giggles.

As the sun perched higher in the sky, the burrow, filled itself with activities. Harry, Ron, Ginny and the twins were all seated in the living room, discussing all the possible ways of pranking their guests at the wedding while Hermione protested at every new idea, frowing all the while as the conversation didn't quite suite her.

Remus, Sirius and Arthur had been sitting outside on the porch of the burrow, probably discussing Remus's and Sirius's future plans with Harry and their little family, or so Harry guessed. Molly was busy knitting a rather very colourful sweater all the while softly singing along a muggle song that played on the radio.

It was only when Harry, tired of been sitting in the same position for over ah hour, got up to stretch his limbs, that he saw a giant eagle owl pace down the burrow. It slid itself swiftly across the porch and made it's way into the living room through the front window. Almost a second later, Remus, Sirius and Arthur came back into the house, following the giant owl. Harry walked upto the fierce brown eagle owl wondering who it belonged to and who had sent them a letter. As he neared the owl, it lifted it's chin and stuck out it's left leg infront of Harry. Tied to it's leg was a letter. Harry took the letter from the bird and eyed it with curiosity. At once Harry felt Sirius slide behind him to take a look at the newly-arrived letter. All the other members of the burrow silently looked at Harry, eager to know what information that piece of parchment contained.

Harry opened the neatly folded parchment and saw elegant cursive handwriting downed upon it. He read it out loud so everyone could hear-

 _Dear Remus,_

 _There's something you need to know. I have gathered a rather odd piece of information this morning and it has been drawn to my attention that there's a certain important matter that needs to be addressed at the ministry. And I need you to be present here as this new found information concerns you and your little family. There's a hearing at the ministry at 3 o' clock and I rather you be present there, along with your lover, Sirius and Auror Arthur. I reckon you come alone and let Potter be. He'd soon find out what the matter is anyways. And be sure you don't spill this particular information to anyone other than your swarm of weasleys._

 _Severus._

Harry looked up from the parchment and saw a vivid set of expression on the burrow's residents. Remus and Sirius has the same incredulous looks on their faces, while Mr. Weasley shot a worried glance to his wife and then to Remus. Molly had apparently over-heard the words and was now standing besides her husband, showing same worried expressions as him. All the other humans in the room, i.e Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins shared a look of confusion and curiosity.

And Harry? Well he didn't honestly know what he expressed.

Without much words spoken, the aurors left the burrow and flooed to the Ministry.

Molly silenced the now curious and agitated mob of children in her house and went into the kitchen, supposedly to cook lunch.

Harry flopped onto the couch beside Ron waiting for Remus and the others to return. He was growing rather impatient by every passing minute. Anxiously, he got up once again from his seat and started pacing around the room.

Ginny knew that Harry was getting anxious and nervous by the minute. She slowly pulled up behind him as he paced around and held him by his arm. Harry, being practically nervous, gasped.

"Shush, Harry. Stop running around like a madman. They'll be here soon and we'll soon find out what the matter is. It'll be alright. Don't worry." She placed her other hand onto Harry's chest to calm him down.

Harry knew she was right. And probably he was just fussing over nothing. Maybe the ministry was just holding a random hearing about some illegal use of magic outside Hogwarts and thus needed the aurors to be present there, Yeah, that was pretty much likely. But then again, why had Snape mentioned specifically not to bring Harry? He had also mentioned that whatever the matter was it has something to do with _their family._ What is this all about?

"Ugh" He sighed in desperation and plopped back down on the couch beside Ron, earning worried looks from six different faces. He readily ignored them and stared fretfully at the chimney from where Remus and Sirius along with Mr. Weasley were supposed to return.

A dreadfully long hour later, the chimney rustled into action. Harry, all of a sudden, on hearing the rustling sound got up from the couch and waited for the green flames to come to life. Ron and Hermione too stood up behind him and hurried towards the chimney.

A second later, the green flames appeared and Sirius dodged his way out of the floo network. He looked horrified. Mr. Weasley joined him soon enough emerging from behind. And Harry could tell from their faces that something was not right. He barged into Sirius, grabbing him painfully stiff to evulse him out of his stupor.

"Sirius. Sirius. SIRIUS!" Harry growled at him. Sirius turned to face him, his expressions suddenly going from horrified to that of compassion and pity. Harry pried his sudden change of demeanor and looked at Mr. Weasley for an explanation.

Even Mr. Weasley looked down at Harry with a glum face and Harry practically shouted –

"What is going on? Sirius? Tell me. And where, where the bloody hell is Remus?

"Harry, I'm, I'm. . we're so sorry, Harry"

"Sirius, where is Moony?" Harry asked again, trying to maintain his calm. And just when Sirius was about to open his mouth to speak, the green flames of the chimney revived to life.

Remus Lupin walked out of the floo and came to stand next to Sirius, his expression no less horrific that Sirius's. Harry plunged at him and was just about to speak when –

The green flames of the floo network activated again and all ten pairs of eyes scooted over to see who it was.

As the flames muffled down, a tall, lean body, with its back facing the room, appeared out of it.

Harry froze.

And then he heard loud gasps from across the room behind him just as the lean, pale body turned around to face the them.

With his face pointed high, pale hands smothered down in his gray pant's pockets, platinum blonde locks of hair fuzing all over his head and jet grey eyes fleeting all across the room, Draco Malfoy stood upright in front of him.

Harry shuddered, yet again. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he looked at the person standing mere inches apart from him, aghast.

Draco Malfoy.

 _He is alive? Draco Malfoy is alive?_


	3. Maybe it's time to move on

Disclaimer: Characters are, of course, owned by J.K. Rowling. I own nothing, but oh yes, I'd so love to borrow Draco indefinitely.

Warning: Draco/Harry slash. Rating for this story is T, and do expect a lot of fluff.

Author's Note :July 2017. Hey there, all my readers. Sorry for not leaving a note at the start of the fic. This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction. And I'm starting with my favorite ship, Drarry. Please be nice XD. Also, I apologize for any OOCness, and feel free to point out any mistakes! _Nemesis or Lovers?_ is a compliant fic up to all the events until the war. Yet, it is definitely not exactly how it seems in the _Harry Potter_ books, I have my own imaginations embedded in it. It is a Post-War fic but with all the major characters still alive. Of course I won't let my favorite characters die by the hands of a madman, now would I? So without much ado, Let's start.

 **Chapter 3**

 **Maybe it's time to move on.**

 _In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him) slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length._

 _"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"_

"What the bloody hell are you staring down at me for, Potter?" Draco sneered. It was then Harry realized what he was doing. He had his arms tightly gripping Remus as he had tried to get him to answer what was happening when the floo had activated itself only to present them with Draco Malfoy. _Draco Malfoy wasn't dead! He is here, right now. How? Was he dreaming?_ Harry mentally asked himself. _But no, he wasn't. He could clearly see that blonde standing inches away from him, all well and alive. He looked the same, or did he? Wearing a well-fitted white button-down shirt along with a pair of grey 'just-the-shade-of-his-eyes pants, his hands tucked in the pant pockets, small fringes of platinum blonde hair falling all over his forehead- oh wait, what the bloody hell was he thinking!_

"You're… You're alive?" Harry spluttered.

"Much to your dismay." drawled Draco as he walked past the petty onlookers brushing his body swiftly against Harry's shoulder and made his way towards the couch, sliding down to take a seat swiftly.

 _How is he alive? And if he's been alive all this while where had he been? Does he know about his paren- Did he just brush against me?_ Harry was now staring wide-eyed at Draco, his gaze following the blonde's path.

"Harry, hey, I'm so sorry Harry. We didn't know. In fact nobody knew. Severus had found him a day ago at the Manor hiding….. "

Oh Harry was far from listening to what Sirius had to say. His eyes were darting out at Draco with sheer astronishment. He had always despised his arrogance and pure-blood pride. And right now Draco was doing just that! With his pointed chin held high and sneer laced on his face, arranged comfortably in the couch with his slender legs upon the nearby table, he was looking all over the burrow, probably despising the view which was clearly evident by the now-forming frown on his face. _Oh he's such a git._

". . . hence I guess we'll have to take custody of him and adopt him as our child."

Harry's head snapped back at Remus who was talking to everyone in the burrow now. "What? You have to do what. . ?" Harry repeated, aghast.

"Harry, we have to take him in with us. He's got no family left and no where to go. And with the Ministry devoted to kill all Death Eaters-" Harry's face flinched at the mention of that word. _Death Eater. Draco Malfoy._ "I'm afraid Harry we cannot let him stay alone. He's not safe." Remus continued .

"Bloody hell. That's not very likely. He's a MALFOY. AND A MALFOY CANNOT BE TRUSTED FOR GOD'S SAKE!" It was Ron now that had shouted, coming back to his senses, all ready to pounce on Draco and smack him right in the face. Hermione gasped and stopped her boyfriend mid—way before he could harm the boy sitting in front of them. Draco who had been oblivious of the entire situation, his mind wandering around at the distasteful, small household, now suddenly became full aware of his surroundings on hearing the word MALFOY hissed at him. And in a second his heart pounded in his chest when he saw Weasley ready to attack him. His eyes widened and his jaw clenched. Thankfully Hermione had stopped him before he could do anything. But Draco was still in shock, of course he was furious too now. _Bloody Weasel._

"RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU SHOUT PROFANITIES IN MY HOUSE? YOU BETTER NOT OR I'LL MAKE SURE YOU'RE THE ONE THAT GETS DISOWNED, RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT!" Molly's voice was strict and spiteful.

Draco cannot help but smirk in triumph at that comment. He could see from the side of his eyes that Harr-Potter was still standing open-mouthed and fists clenched facing Lupin and Sirius. He knew Harr- _God, no._ Potter despised him with every fibre of his being. And he equally hated him. _Or did he?_

"But Snape could adopt him, of course. I bet he still is his Godfather. " Harry spoke atlast, sounding nothing but annoyed.

"No, Harry, he couldn't." snapped Remus. "Snape still works at Hogwarts as a professor. He cannot keep Draco with him at the Castle. Nor can he let Draco stay back at the Manor all by himself. That'll all be just too risky with his life." He continued softly.

Harry looked around to meet Draco's stare, again. He could see Draco had gone stiff and his face showed alarm at the way the conversation was being held. Harry couldn't help but wonder what the blonde might be thinking at the very moment. _Is he afraid? Is he worried about what lay ahead for him in life? Or is he just unaffected by the qualms of the particular situation?_ Draco's eyes flickered a shimmer of silver when his gaze met Harry's but it was gone in a blink. Harry was rather amused at the sudden transformation. It felt like Draco was an entire different being for a moment when his eyes had beamed that brilliant shade of silver grey; but now they were back to their slate form, the old, arrogant, my-father-will-hear-about-this Dra- Malfoy. _How pathetic._ Harry thought and turned back around, for the first time to look at his friends. Ron was still flaring with anger and Hermione was trying all she could to hold him back so he doesn't pounce on Malfoy again. Ginny was standing besides Hermione, sharing the same worried expressions as Hermione. Fred and George looked. . surprised?

Shaking his head in desperation, Harry let out an inaudible sigh and walked across the room over to the dinner table only to be seated with his back at the living room and his head bent down, resting on to the table top. He did not want to be a part of that stupid conversation anymore. He knew whatever he would say now was going to be useless for the ministry had already claimed Draco's security in the hands of his Godfathers and also because he knew it was quite legit that Draco needed to be protected from being killed by the hands of the Aurors that still believed he was a Death Eater. _Sigh._

After what felt like a millennium of silence, Molly's voice beamed across the room, "Very well, I think the matter has been sorted now. Draco will share home with Padfoot and Moony and Harry." She said giving slight emphasis on the word Harry.

"MUM, what the-" Ron bellowed, furiously trying to escape from Hermione's tight grip.

"Don't you dare Ronald Weasley. Take a step ahead and I'll make sure you stay grounded at the house for the rest of the year. No Hogwarts. Do you understand?" It was Molly's turn to be shouting now.

"BUT. . MUM HE'S A MALFOY. AND HE'S. . "

"Go back up to your room Ron. NOW." "Hermione, my dear will you and Ginny please take him."

Harry heard footsteps stomping back from the room towards the stairs and he could only imagine Ron's heated face and balled fists. He sighed again. Maybe Ron was just over-reacting, a little? Blimey, Harry No! what are you thinking? Harry's subconscious snapped at his incredulous thoughts.

"I'll talk to him."

"Padfoot, No. Not now. Let him be for a moment. We can talk to him later when he's sorted things within his mind. Maybe then he'll be able to understand the situation much better."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Oh, come on you all now. I know Harry will be understanding, after all, he's a Potter. And what is a Potter without compassion and love?" It was Arthur Weasley. Harry smiled a little at that statement.

 _Of course he is a Potter. Of course he is compassionate and loving. He loved his family and his friends, way beyond anything. But being compassionate and loving with Draco Malfoy? He didn't really think he had the courage to do that. How was he supposed to forget all those years of torment and taunting and fighting he had spent with Malfoy? At one point in life, Harry was more inclined with hatred towards Malfoy than he was with Voldemort. And now suddenly that has to change? It most certainly wasn't something he could do right away. He knew he felt bad for Malfoy when he heard the news of his death and maybe cried a little too; but that was only because it was in his personality that was caring and all passionate. Furthermore he was feeling guilty because he knew Draco's mother had saved his life and he owed her that, and now her only son had died in the war that was supposed to be only Harry's. Yes, that was it._ Harry thought. _That was the only reason he had felt the pain and agony. Because he was guilty. It definitely had nothing to do with Harry having developed a soft corner for his arched nemesis. It just did not._

Harry was still sitting on one of the chairs at the dinning table, elbows resting on table top and his head bent over, resting in his palms when he felt a warm touch over his shoulder and a moment later he felt someone creep onto the chair beside him. He knew it was Remus.

"Harry, are you okay my boy?"

"I guess, yeah." He said still maintaining his stance.

"You know, had James been here, he would have handled this situation in a much more mature way, though he was a complete arse when it came to everything else. But he did know the meaning of having a happy family. He knew what it was like to live a happy and peaceful life filled with love and that was also because your mother, Lily was his definition to all that." Harry couldn't help but smile at the reference. Looking up, he saw a pained expression on Remus's face. And Harry knew it's hidden cause. _Draco had no family, no friends and no home to go to. His life was in danger and he was still coping with the ghosts of his pasts. Remus was the closest to family he had left and he really needed a caring hand in order to live a normal life again. And what if he has really changed? Surely he seemed a little different lately. He had not insulted anybody ever since their last meeting at the manor where he had for sure saved Harry's life from Bellatrix. Also he had not retorted back to Ron when he knew for sure that Ron would punch him square in the face, rather he had look terrified. And Harry had seen that hint of difference in his eyes when they had held an eye contact, even thought that had lasted only for a millisecond. Harry was sure something has changed, changed for good; he hoped. And after all he could always take care of that nasty git had he not changed; he has tolerated him for years now and he was sure he can tolerate him for some more. And the idea of staying with his Godfathers was still exciting for him which he did not want to ruin by sulking over a Malfoy. Certainly Not._

"So when do you suppose we leave for home, Moony?" Harry asked, a faint smile tugging at his lips now.

The look that followed on Remus's face only made him smile more, a more genuine one this time.

"Tommorow Morning, I suppose." "I've already talked to Sirius and Arthur about it and they seem to agree. Arthur said he would handle the matter with Molly and make her understand how staying back here along with Draco would be a bad idea, and reviewing today's turn of events I'm sure she'll understand." Remus replied.

"That's fine. Where is Sirius by the way?" Harry asked now looking around the room and finding it empty with only the twins sitting by the couch, discussing something, seriously _. Now that's something new_ , he thought.

"Padfoot has gone out to the garden, following Draco when he had stromed out of the house after Ron's another angry fit. He looked quite desolated though. Maybe crying too. I am not so sure, but, yeah maybe he was."

Harry stared at his Godfather's face with a blank expression when he heard the words desolated and crying. He didn't knew what to think; what to feel. He was okay with the fact that he will have to share his home and family with an arrogant, slimey git Draco Malfoy but now he was dumbstuck. _How was he supposed to share anything with a Draco Malfoy that was all sad and shattered and depressed?_

Harry let his eyes glance upon the kitchen window that overlooked the garden. He could see two figures sitted at a distance by the bushes. By the faint outline of those figures he could make out that one of the silhouette was leaning against the other's chest, as if clinging for its life, crying. And he felt a tinge of pain shoot across his own chest. _What has happened to Draco Malfoy over the summer? Why has he changed the way he is now; silent and shattered with all gleams of silver snatched from his once-always-shining eyes? Who is this new Draco?_


	4. More than just rivalry

Disclaimer: Characters are, of course, owned by J.K. Rowling. I own nothing, but oh yes, I'd so love to borrow Draco indefinitely.

Author's Note : Hello readers. First of all, a huge thank you to TTP, AzureSkyTower, Katherine97, Voyager1987 and samy.017 for the favorites and follows. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. But I do promise I'll keep updating the story as and when I get even a flicker of free time. I'm infinitely happy with the response I have been getting over this story. And I promise I would do my best to keep up to all your expectations. Just please be patient and keep loving the work. Also, I'd be highly obliged to receive reviews from you guys. How do you feel the story is doing so far? Do let me know, please? Xoxo.

P.S the words in italics are Harry's and Draco's subconscious thoughts, in case you're wondering.

Chapter 4

 **More than just rivalry.**

 _There are shadows in my dreams  
Storms that send me out to reach  
And you just wait on my defeat_

 _Don't go holding your breath  
You know that I'm not done yet  
There's still a fight in me left  
Don't go shouting out loud  
That you're claiming the crown  
I'm done but not out_

 _And the bittersweet of every new defeat  
Is I'm stronger than before  
Baby, on my knees, but I still believe  
These broken wings will soar_

 _Silhoutte by Birdy._

"But 'mione, how can you be so sure? I mean look at him! He's still being a prick." Ron ignored the glare that Hermione shot in his direction and continued, "Did you not see the way he was sneering at the house with disdain? And, and he also didn't show any kind of respect! How could he be so arrogant, that git? Ron scowled.

"Ron, no. he's not like that anymore. Please try to understand. He has changed Ron. Didn't you see the way he kept his calm when you tried to hit him? He didn't even retort back to you with any snarky comments. And also, he did not disrespect anybody today! His arrogance is something that he has inherited from his family. How do you suppose he changes that in a moment? But he has been keeping his limits Ron, It's evident." Hermione replied softly. Ron just groaned at that and Ginny let out a low chuckle.

Harry had been sleeping in Ron's room that night and so were Hermione and Ginny. They'd had dinner peacefully with no fuss. Dra- Malfoy had been there too but he was silent the entire time. Ron had growled when he had seen him seated at the table beside Fred but one stern look from Mrs. Weasley had made him shut up for the entire evening. Though the look of disgust on his face had been something nobody could miss. Hermione and Ginny had been involved within their own conversation, chuckling and giggling from time to time. Remus, Sirius, Mr and Mrs. Weasley, also had been dissolved within their own talk, eating in between, taking small breaks. And Dra- Malfoy _Oh my God Harry what the bloody hell are you doing? Calling that twat with his first name almost every time? Why?_ Harry had mind-snapped his subconscious for that. But Drac- Malfoy _God just let it be Harry! You can't help it._ So, Draco had been sitting by the end of the table beside Fred and just picking at his food, head bowed down. Harry was amused at the sight. Never had he seen him so upset or so distressed. Maybe Moony was right, maybe he needed family.

Harry had been still glancing at him when Draco had caught his attention. He had looked up so suddenly that Harry almost missed his head snapping up to look straight at him. For a moment their eyes had met. Emerald orbs with silvery ice grey; and Harry had felt a sudden warmth creep up within him. _What the bloody hell is happening to me?_ Harry had thought.

But what had shocked the hell out of him was that Draco hadn't looked away this time. He was boring his gaze right at Harry and didn't even bother lowering his eyes. Harry, feeling slightly intimidated under Draco's gaze had wanted to look away but he couldn't. It was as if something in Draco's icy stare was holding him captive and he was losing this battle of intense stare. _Why can't I look away? Why does this feel so wrong but oh so right? Why is he not looking away either?_ Thousand thoughts had crept inside Harry's head at that very moment but he had let them pass almost immediately because at that point of time nothing else mattered to him more than those icy grey orbs that felt pure cold yet left unbelievable warmth creep against his suddenly fluttering and tingling frozen skin. He had felt those grey pools staring at him intently as if trying to find something in his emerald ones. _But what?_ Harry had been still holding onto Draco's dominant stare when something _or rather someone_ had clattered their spoon onto the hard wooden table _oblivious of the stare game being played at the very table,_ and abruptly Draco, as if he had been snapped out of his trance, had broken their moment of eye-friction; _oh on the scale of 1 to Luna Lovegood, how crazy might he be had he thought of calling it as eye-fucking instead of just eye-friction?! Shut Up dumb head!_ Harry had chided to his pervasive subconscious yet again. And had turned his flustered face down. Promptly he had felt his cheeks turn red and his nostrils flare at the abrupt slaughter of his _\- their_ eye-whatever! Even though he knew his face and hands were gone red with all that blood rushing inside him, almost tumbling in his arteries, he had felt cold. Cold and well, he didn't exactly what the other feeling had been. _What had just happened between him and Draco?_

After a few seconds, he had looked up for a moment to make sure what was Draco playing at but he had been surprised beyond words when he had seen Draco's face. Draco had still been looking down, picking at his food but he had also been _Smiling?_ _What?_ For a moment Harry had been bemused when he had realization dawned upon him that Draco Malfoy can actually smile. Like a real, genuine, full blown smile. Wow. _That was certainly new._ _But what has he been smiling at?_ Harry had looked down at Draco's food plate and was sure Draco wouldn't be smiling at treacle tarts, beef loafs and pumpkin juice. _So then does that mean he had been smiling because of what happened between them moments ago?_ Harry had been curious, also intrigued. He needed to know what Draco had been thinking at that very moment. But unfortunately Draco had never looked up again.

Draco had finished his dinner as fast as he possibly could and was out of the dinner area without even a second glance at Harry. Harry had fumbled with his own fork for a minute after he had seen Draco leave the room and had stood up himself to put back his half eaten dinner plate onto the kitchen platform. Hermione had eyed him suspiciously when he turned back to leave the room himself but he had ignored her look adamantly and headed up to his room. And within ten minutes of laying head down on his bed, thinking of all the possibilities that might have made the blonde smile that way and more importantly about all the possibilities that had lead to their strange yet amusing stare game, he had been asleep. He didn't knew when Ron, 'Mione and Ginny had came back to the room but was only woken up by Ron's yell.

"And besides he does look different now, doesn't he?" Ginny grinned.

"Bloody hell Gin! You're thinking what I think you're thinking, now are you?" Ron yelled.

"Oh sure I do. What makes you think I am not? Haven't you seen that perfectly gropable arse he flaunts these days?" She slammed her fist at her brother's shoulder who grew more pale by her comment.

Both Ginny and Hermione were now laughing hard at Ron's horrid expressions. And with his face muffled into the pillow, Harry was having a very hard time controlling his own laughter at his best mate's hoaxing.

"I will bloody make mum disown you Gin if you ever say that again. I swear to Merlin I will. Malfoy and arse. Holy cricket, that's - that's a disgusting turn of bottoms!" Ron huffed, still sounding horrible. And that was it. Harry couldn't control himself anymore and fell down the bed, landing flat upon his arse, laughing uncontrollably. Watching Harry fall down with hysteria made the girls lose their minds and they filled in for another fit of laughter. Ron just gaped at his best mate as if he felt betrayed that Harry had taken the girl's side and not his. "Traitor" he mouthed at Harry.

"Oh, Ron. Merlin. Look at your fac-" Harry was cut out of his hysteric laugh mid-way when the door of the bedroom flew open with a loud thud.

It was now Harry's turn to look horrid. And Ron, if anything, just grew more angrier. The two girls also ceased their laughs and were now staring at the open bedroom door and at the boy that stood out in the darkness of the corridor.

"Would you mind shutting your bloody mouths and let the eerie silence preach as I assume it is middle of the night and your stupid laughter just feels like bloody Satan has risen from the dead." Draco drawled from across the room, now emerging from the blackness of the dark corridors. "And Potter, stop that bloody hysterical laugh of yours. For Merlin's sake, it feels like some rowdy raven is having an epileptic attack." Harry was caught off guard by that snarky remark and he felt tongue-tied for a moment before he could speak. "Oh is it now, Malfoy? I thought you loved the sound of my rowdy raven laugh because I assume that's the only reason you were drawn into barging our little party." Harry snapped bitterly.

"How delusional could you possibly be Potter, honestly. And here I thought 'The Boy Who Lived Twice' was far more witty than this! Drawn to you little Gryffindor slug club, No thank you very much." Draco scoffed nonchalantly. Harry flinched at the very comment. He felt insulted not because Draco Malfoy had just defamed his house and his best friends in front of him but because he had called him delusional for thinking that Draco could ever be drawn to him. Yes he did feel insulted. And pained. And. . _Wait,_ _What?_

"Shove off, Malfoy." Finally Ron spat.

Draco casted one last menacing glare at the redhead and stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him shut.

 _Bloody ferret._

"Bloody ferret." Ron echoed Harry's thoughts and Harry looked at him wide-eyed, not sure that maybe he said it out aloud. But judging by Hermione's glare directed only towards her boyfriend he knew he hadn't. And he realized their little laughing club has come to an end. _Slug club? Really now Draco?_ He couldn't help his thoughts at times. And especially if the times involved thinking about a certain blonde, he definitely couldn't.

After disaster dinner, Draco had gone back up to his room and plopped down on the floor shutting the door behind him. _What had just happened between him and Potter? Why had he looked at him that way? And why had Potter not looked away? What was he playing at? But, but that moment had felt something- something endearing. Endea – Wait, what?_

 _Yes. It did Draco, you pathetic fool. Don't deny that. It had felt warm and giddy when Potter had looked into your eyes. And you were on the verge of passing out because remember how you had held your breath? It had almost made me anoxic and I was just about to die! DIE because bloody Potter couldn't take his eyes away from you and you – you were just as daft, staring back intently. Thanks to that ginger Ron who doesn't know how to eat petty beef loafs and had clanked his spoon off the table! Else I would have surely died of anoxia, you git. "_ Bloody brain." He sighed.

 _But you see, the point is, Potter looked like he was a red tomato after that eye-fuckery of yours. And I am definite I saw him peeking back at you after that. Maybe he even saw you do something you got to admit you have not done in ages, that is smiling. Why were you smiling by the way Draco? You really didn't feel that whatever happened was good, did you? Personally, I felt it was not good. It was Brilliant! And, that smile suits you boy. I saw that in Potter's eyes earlier when he looked like he was bemused by that sexy smile of yours._ Draco had resisted to rolling his eyes at that statement. Sometimes his brain felt alien to him. Maybe it really needed proper care at St. Mungo's, he thought. _NO I DON'T!_ He had snickered at that retort.

Once back to his bed, Draco had wanted nothing but to sleep peacefully after a very bloody _literally bloody_ long month. And there he had been, on a comfy bed, much to his displeasure because he had never thought the beds at the burrow would be that soft and comfy, sleep dancing in his eyes, and he was on the verge of darkness when Potter and his little minion's club had started laughing so loudly and he was startled back into reality from his sleep. All he had wanted was a little peace and a break from his stupid subconscious mind that was trying to set him up with bloody Potter but even that had seemed too much to ask for. He had felt furious and with a disgruntled groan shut his eyes close forcefully, desperately trying to avoid the loud voices and drifting back to slumber.

But just then he had heard Potter's hysterical laugh from the room beside his and he had lost it. He had barged into the room, shut Potter and his hysteria attack up and slammed the door so loud behind him that now he was amused it hadn't got unhinged.

Once again, back to his bed, he smiled in triumph. The laughing club had dissolved and now all he could hear was the summer night wind rustling by the windows and faint chirping of crickets from afar. He felt tired too. And he really needed some break from all those thoughts. Thoughts of Potter, that stupid dinner and his new-found fondness for emerald orbs. After all why would he feel anything towards bloody Potter? Wasn't he his arch nemesis? Then all those happy and warm fluttering inside his stomach he had felt whenever he looked at that Raven haired boy and his emerald eyes, what was that? _That's your subconscious making you realize how much you just love that raven!_ "Merlin shut up now, would you? He snapped angrily.

And in a jiffy, the door to his bedroom barged open revealing a very confused and angry Harry Potter storming towards his bed. For a moment, by the look in Potter's eyes he thought he was going to kill him or better hex his arse. He fumbled in the darkness to get a hold of his wand from his bedside table and stood up in time to bump into a very angry and very strongly built Harry Potter. Their foreheads collided by the sudden movement and a coupled voice sounding like "Ouch" filled the dark room and hung in the misty air.

"What on bloody earth do you think you're doing Potter?" he seethed, still rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"Might I ask you the same, Malfoy. What the bloody hell do you think you're doing going all the way shaming my friends when it's the same people that have given your shitty arse a place to bloody live in despite everything you've ever done to them?" Harry sounded like his throat was on fire and he needed to get that out.

When Draco had gate crashed his little chat group earlier, he was sure he wasn't angry at him, just a little shocked and a very little, almost negligible amount of hurt. But okay, not angry. It was later when Draco had left the room that Ron had spoken up something about him being disrespectful and disparage to the only people trying to help him or something like that, Harry didn't exactly knew what Ron had said because his mind had been preoccupied with thoughts of Draco calling him delusional. But the words 'Disrespectful' and 'Disparaged' had a stuck a nerve in him. And a second later he knew he was fuming with anger.

"Honestly Potter, I don't give a damn about who does what for me. Save my life or bury me alive, it's gonna make no difference for me." Draco's voice sounded steely, almost lifeless and for a moment Harry was stopped from retorting back when the meaning of those words hit him.

So, Draco Malfoy, 'the boy who never backed down' had given up. Given up on himself and his life. He has given up on hopes and the feeling of being alive. _But why?_ Didn't he just make out of the war safe and sound? His parents didn't, unfortunately, but of course Draco never seemed like the one to quit. He wasn't a quitter back then, _then what has had him so changed?_

"Now if you don't mind Potter, May I pick up on my beauty sleep before I start getting bloody dark spots?" Draco was the one to break that momentary silence.

Harry didn't hear what Draco said instead he was staring right back at his face, more like his eyes. He had never seen such cold-yet unbelievably warm pair of eyes. _Why have I never noticed them before? It's not that I don't know him since long, it's been almost 7 years now and still these grey diamonds feel like_ _something I never knew befor_ e. _Sure because maybe in all those years they have never been caught upon each other in such close proximity and even when they had, there was nothing but animosity clouding their eyes… Such close proximity?_

Harry snapped out of his trail of thoughts when he realized suddenly how warm the air around him felt. He was mere inches away from the other boy now and their faces were aligned almost in a way that could have landed them accidently brushing their lips had they moved even an inch. His breath caught in his lungs and he felt giddy suddenly. He could feel Draco's cold breath fall on the nook of his neck and that simple gush of air made his tiny hair stand up behind his neck.

Draco eyed the other boy with confusion, his eyebrows furrowed like he was scrutinizing his face. When he didn't get any reaction to his cold statement, he thought it was better if he ended that topic here itself. He didn't like talking about his 'pathetic excuse for life' to anyone and absolutely not to Potter of all people.

When even his second attempt to shove Potter failed, and Potter just stood there like a bloody statue glued to the spot he couldn't help but look at him straight in the face. And for the second time that day, those emerald orbs that greeted him felt so warm and fluttery. _Potter looks better without his glasses!_

Draco didn't knew when he had closed the small space between them and now that they were standing mere inches away from each other. The heat radiating from Potter's body felt like a fireplace in the alps. All coherent thoughts had left Draco's mind and he was now the one that was glued to the spot.

When a few moments later Harry's eyes widened and he moved back a little, Draco found his lost breath. And his heartbeat was racing. _What is happening to me?_ Was all he could think about.

Without another word, Harry turned back and walked out of the room. His mind racing with indecent thoughts about Draco and their proximity, his body positively shaking from the after effects of the recent Arrhythmia he had while back in the room. When he reached back to Ron's bedroom, he found Ron and Hermione already drifted to sleep on Ron's bed and Ginny wasn't in the room anymore. Maybe she's headed back to her own bedroom, with that thought he plopped back down on his bed already feeling tired.

 _What is happening to me? Why do I feel like some unknown force is drawing me towards him?_ Two boys, in two different rooms, had the same thought running through their minds in a loop.


	5. Leave out all the rest

Disclaimer: Characters are, of course, owned by J.K. Rowling. I own nothing, but oh yes, I'd so love to borrow Draco indefinitely.

Author's Note : Happy Weekend readers. This chapter is solely dedicated in the loving memory of Chester Bennington. May his soul rest in peace. Thank you sarkdas and Katherine97 for the lovely reviews. I love you all. Keep reading and Loving the story. Also, people do tell me if you would like more of Muggle Drarry or not. Much love! xo.

Chapter 5

 **Leave out all the Rest**

 _I dreamed I was missing, You were so scared.  
But no one would listen, Cause no one else cared.  
After my dreaming I woke with this fear  
What am I leaving When I'm done here?  
So, if you're asking me, I want you to know_

 _When my time comes,  
Forget the wrong that I've done,  
Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed.  
And don't resent me, And when you're feeling empty,  
Keep me in your memory,  
Leave out all the rest._

 _Leave out all the rest by Linkin Park_

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Sometimes, I do. She was the only thing that kept me sane after everything. Guess that's all I had with her, sharing our sanities and love, keeping each other alive."

" I didn't want to lose her too. I saw how happy she made you. She was the brightest light in your dark world. I never wished to let that light go dim. I never wished to see you in dark again, Remy."

Remus Lupin and Sirius Black sat on the grassy covered ground of the garden beside the Burrow, facing the early dawn darkness slowly fading into the golden clouds that hid the sun from the face of the sky. Sirius knew Remus missed Tonks too much although Remus never let that show. It was rather obvious, Sirius knew his old friend inside out since they were eleven, he knew when the other was lying or hiding or keeping secrets. But what bothered him the most was that Remus never opened up to him about Tonks after the war. Sirius knew Remus loved him but he also knew he had a special place for Tonks in his heart. He never hated Tonks, NEVER. He knew what she meant to Remus and he was more than satisfied by the way she had taken care of his love, his Remy, while he was gone all that while into hiding. Maybe she was the one that deserved Remus more than he did. But then he did love Remus too, since they were fifteen and he did now, even more than ever.

"You were and will always be my pole star, Padfoot." Remus was now looking at Sirius with a smile on his face which Sirius thought was the most earnest smile he had ever seen.

"I am glad I'm your Pole Star, because you see I would have bitten your ass down had you compared me to anything less shiny and sparkly." said Sirius, smirking.

"Ofcourse, My theatrical queen." Remus rolled his eyes.

"I am going to Grimmauld Place today." Sirius broke the silence after a while.

"Why?"

"I need to fix that ruddy house a little. And Draco is accompanying me. I talked to him yesterday about that, he said he would come. After all that's his ancestral home too. He wants to help me fix it."

"Oh." Remus didn't know what to say for a moment. He was happy to have this person beside him because he was everything he could have asked for. A friend, family, acquaintance and above all the most understanding lover. "Thank you Padfoot, for accepting that boy." He said finally.

"Oh no you don't say that. I already love the boy. He's snarky but has a heart. And we do make a very good pair, you'll see." Sirius beamed at that last sentence.

"Hah sure you will." Remus snorted. " I just hope Harry understands." He added as an after thought, sighing.

Sirius held out his hand and embraced his wolf. He knew Remus was worried for Harry and Draco. But he was sure his Godson was better than holding onto hate and grudges. "He'll find his way Remy, they both will." He assured.

They sat there by the garden until the morning sun shone bright in the Summer sky, basking in each other's company. It wasn't until Molly had called out for them from the kitchen had they walked back, hand in hand, to the house. Once inside, Sirius and Remus talked to Molly about their plans of going back to Grimmauld later that day after Sirius and Draco get the house cleaned out and make it brand new. Molly had requested them to stay a little longer but agreed reluctantly when Remus held out the point of Draco's safety.

"The boy needs to be kept undercover, it'll only risk him more if he stays here long." Remus had said.

"If that's the case, alright you may leave today. But not before lunch, okay?" Molly said softly.

"Ofcourse Molly. I would love to have exquisite dinner by your hands than starve to death at my place because unlike you some people here know nothing about kitchen and cooking." Sirius huffed looking back at Remus.

"Says the Grand Chef Paddy himself." Remus retorted.

* * *

Harry woke up to the hot summer morning sunlight pouring through the window by his bed. Putting on his glasses, he saw nobody was in the room except for him and Hedwig, who was sitting by the table top beside his bed. He patted Hedwig's head for a minute who greeted him with a soft hoot. Smiling down at her, he went to the bathroom to get fresh. Memories from the night before came flooding back to him as he tried to clear his mind of the remaining sleep and brushed his teeth. He was having a good time with his friends last night when that idiot Draco had decided to barge in and spoil their fun. Harry was angry by the time he had realized what Draco had done and marched back to the blonde's room to get back at him. " _No one insults my friends in front of me, especially not a Malfoy"_ Harry had thought.

But what had happened in Draco's room wasn't exactly what he had planned of. He had shouted at Draco for being a dork and expected a nasty retort back but all he got was a calm, grave reply. He had never expected Draco Malfoy to leave any opportunity to insult him, specially not such heated ones. But Draco, he had looked so exhausted and when he had closed the distance between them Harry had seen his face, full of fatigue and dullness. And Harry knew the person standing before him wasn't the same perky, nasty little ferret, always shining Draco Malfoy anymore. _He has given_ _up_. What had followed after that was something Harry couldn't get his mind off. They had been close, so close and Draco had looked at him straight into his eyes, and Harry had seen the fear in Draco's eyes. Draco was afraid, it was evident but of what Harry didn't knew. He had tried to maintain his composure when he had felt Draco's cold breath fall on his neck and his heart had skipped a beat when he had caught Draco looking back at him intently. He didn't want the moment to pass. But it had. Harry had soon recovered from his trance and had turned red like a beet when he had realized what he was doing. Then without saying a word he had left Draco's room. All night he had thought about their little meeting and had only fallen asleep when it was almost dawn.

Making his way down the stairs he heard Ginny shouting.

"RONALD WEASLEY, YOU GIVE ME BACK MY CHOCOLATE FROGS CARDS. NOW!" Ginny sounds just like when she's angry, Harry thought.

"HARRY, mate Help! Tell her I need these cards more than she does. I have to complete my collecti - OW." Ron said trying to defend himself from Ginny's raged punches when he saw Harry walking towards them with an amused expression.

Harry rolled his eyes at his best mate and said, "Ron you don't steal your little sister's cards to complete your collection, that's awful." Harry heard Hermione snicker from behind the ongoing petite ruckus, sitting on the couch and reading the Daily Prophet, ignoring the fighting Weasley siblings.

"What the bloo-" Ron gulped the remaining words down his throat when he saw Molly Weasley enter the kitchen from back door. "You're whose best mate? Mine or my sister's?" he continued in a low voice.

"Ofcourse you- both of your's" Harry supplied.

"Hmph. Whatever. Here take it. I don't want your cards. I'll get my own ones and make my own collection!" Ron shoved the cards back to Ginny in the face.

Ginny hurriedly picked up her cards and smirked back at her brother, "Like sure you will Ickle Ronniekinns." She then raced past the room and hugged Harry "Good Morning Harry. You look fresh this morning." She smiled at him.

"Oh, is it?" Harry tried to stop the blush creeping up his cheeks when he realized he certainly does feel quite refreshed this morning. _Little does Ginny know why. . ._

"Oh yes. And for the record, I'm not the LITTLE sister." Ginny said in a stern voice as she let go of Harry "Always remember that." with that she fled off to the kitchen.

"That girl is mental, I tell you." Ron said still soothing his punched shoulder when Harry sat down the couch beside Hermione.

"She's your sister after all." Harry laughed as Ron shot him an angry look and sat beside Hermione on the other side.

Hermione looked up at her friends for a second and without any warning pulled them into a tight hug. Harry and Ron both looked gob-smacked at the sudden gesture but relaxed when they heard her mumble, "Finally, it's over. I have you all back. The war tragedy is over."

After a few seconds when they broke the embrace, Hermione looked up at Harry, eyeing him resourcefully, "You do look cheerful today, Harry. What's cooking in there?" she gestured towards his brain and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"What - nothing 'mione. I just feel good today. Nothing's cooking in here for sure." Harry responded by gesturing his own head. Hermione nodded silently still looking skeptical.

Harry then turned and looked around the house to find Draco but to his dismay he found the house rather empty.

"By the way where is everybody?" _Where is Draco you mean?_

"Dad and Remus's gone to the Ministry. Dad said they had meeting with the other auror's there regarding some pending Death Eater cases. George and Fred are staying at the shop today. And well, Sirius left in the morning for Grimmauld. Said he had to fix the house a little before you go there and live." Ron raised himself from the seat and continued, in a grumpy voice, "Malfoy's accompanying him."

"What – Malfoy's with Padfoot? At the Grimmauld?" Harry shot up from his seat, surprised and confused.

"I don't know mate. He said he needed some help with the fixing and shopping and Malfoy agreed to go with him. I bet that git is upto something, that foul ferret." Harry ignored Ron's last comment and nodded. _Padfoot took Draco with him to their house! Draco agreed to help him fix the house and go shopping! Is this the start of something new?_ Harry could not help but smile at the thought.

* * *

The trio and Ginny spent the entire morning playing Exploding snaps and wizard's chess. Remus and Arthur Weasley returned from the Ministry a while later and soon enough Remus was playing along with them.

It wasn't until late afternoon when Sirius and Draco returned from their little venture. Sirius held huge shopping bags in both his hands and so did Draco who followed him inside the house a seconds later.

"What is that in your hands?" Remus asked standing up from his seat and helping Sirius place the giant bags off on the floor. Harry resisted the urge to get up and help Draco with his bags. _Do it you idiot. You know you want to help him._ Harry did a mental eye roll at his stupid, always bugging subconscious and focused his attention back to his God fathers.

"Good Afternoon to you too Remus." Sirius greeted Remus sarcastically and continued, "We went to Muggle London. And we did some shopping for the house and all of you." Sirius's black eyes beamed just like his black shiny hair.

"PRESENTS FOR US!" Ginny bustled out of her seat and carried Hermione by her hand towards the big bags resting on the floor.

"Ginevra Weasley, manners." Molly scolded her from afar.

Harry was curious now as to what his Godfather had got him. Presents always excited him. He casted another excited glance towards Draco who had by now placed his bags by the small table beside him and was staring right back at him. . . _Is he staring at me?_ Harry felt his cheeks turn red again, and he knew he was blushing. Draco suddenly looked away when he saw Harry looking back at him.

"This my dear, is for you." Sirius said handing Ginny her bag. She squealed in delight when she opened up her present and found a bright red netted frock inside it. She hugged Sirius with all her might and mouthed a sweet Thank you towards Draco. Draco didn't react much but Harry could bet he saw the sides of his lips quirk up a little.

After Sirius had given everyone their presents which included a set of Best selling Novels for Hermione, A pair of converse sneakers for Ron, Muggle Coats for Arthur, A muggle recipe book and pair of gowns for Molly and bunch of muggle games set for the twins; he came and stood beside Harry. Harry looked at him expectantly but was only dejected when he saw Sirius's hands were empty. _So my God Father goes shopping and buys everyone wonderful presents only to forget his own Grandson. Wow._

"Harry my boy, don't you wanna know what I bought you as a present?" Sirius asked Harry gleefully. Harry nodded, excitement returning in his veins at full speed. He waited patiently for his Godfather to hand him his present but rather he heard him call, "Draco."

Harry's eyes widened like saucers when he heard Draco's name. _Padfoot bought me Draco?_

His shock was short-lived when he saw Draco get up from his chair and hand him his bag of Present. Harry thought he would be fooling himself if he'd say he didn't feel sad that the aforementioned person wasn't his present. Nonetheless, he took the present from Draco's hand all the while looking at him with a faint smile playing on his lips. When his hands touched Draco's cold skin for the briefest of the moment, he blushed but soon concealed it. He was sure he saw Draco's grey eyes widen at the touch and he abruptly pulled away his hand. Mumbling a soft Thank You to him, Harry turned around to open his present.

It wasn't as big as his friend's but he didn't mind that. When he opened the small box in his hands he found an exquisite shining platinum chain inside. The chain was made of thin cord of platinum with an elegant grey locket, just like an very tiny ice cube attached to it. The locket had a small flower encored inside it, as if it had been preserved inside that frozen piece of ice. Harry was astounded for a moment when he saw the delicate piece of art in his hands. He heard his Godfather say, "It was you mother Lily's, Harry." Harry felt his eyes getting wet when he recognized the flower was none other than a white lily and he hurled himself at Sirius, hugging him tightly. He was sobbing now. Sirius placed a sweet kiss on Harry's forehead and hugged him back. Harry remembered the scene from the Forbidden forest during the war. _The ones that love us never really leave us._ He held the chain firmly in his hands. He was happy to have his God father by his side now. He was grateful for every person he had in his life, and he was content.

* * *

After a very pleasant lunch, Remus mentioned it was time for them to leave. Harry felt little upset letting go of his best mates but he knew this was for his own good. _And Draco's._ After having their Goodbyes Remus, Sirius along with the two boys had apparated to Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

The place looked nothing like it had looked two days earlier. As Harry took in the scene in front of him he felt taken aback. The house was clean now, no dust lingering on the furniture, no spider-webs hanging down the portraits. The rooms were brightly lit and they looked _Coloured?_ Yes, they were newly coloured. They were as bright as a garden full of flowers. He looked around the living room and found it smelling fresh with cool air buzzing in from the windows. The walls had been cleaned and the portraits all stood there shining. Harry looked around for the portrait of Walburga Black and nearly hoped it might have been removed but to his dismay the portrait still hung on the wall above the fireplace, his only relief came when he saw the women in the portrait fast asleep. He walked around the entire house followed by an equally surprised Remus Lupin. They were both was amazed at the new look the house had conquered under the guidance of Sirius and Draco.

"How do you like our new home Harry? Sirius asked contentedly when he saw Harry and Remus come back to the living room after their little home tour.

"Gratifying homely." Harry beamed with pure satisfaction.

Remus made his way back to Sirius and sat beside his love. They started talking silently and Harry thought it was his que to let them stay alone together for sometime. He scanned around the room to find Draco but found him nowhere to be seen. Sighing, he made his way back up the stairs to his room. _Searching for him again, now are we? "_ No". _Sure, no. What's with the blushing all the time then? "_ That has nothing to do with him." _You wish._ "Shutup you idio-"

"Who are you talking to, Potter?" Draco drawled from behind him.

Harry was startled for a moment when he heard the familiar drawl he had been looking for moments ago. Turning to face the blonde he retorted, "Just the nargles in my head."

Draco raised one eyebrow at him questioningly. "Oh, nevermind. What are you doing here Malfoy?" Harry inqured.

"I knew you were slow Potter but I never imagined you to be this daft. I'm staying here with you, does that ring a bell?" Draco grunted.

"I meant what are you doing up here." Harry hissed back at him.

"Well, there you see, that happens to be my room." Draco gestured towards an open door down the corridor. Harry quickly shifted his gaze from the blonde towards the room and a second later his eyes widened with realization and disbelief.

"What? No. That's – That's my room!" He slurred.

"I know. Sirius said we're sharing." Draco shrugged casually. Harry's eyes grew even more wider if that was even humanly possible and the red of his cheeks returned in full volume. "WE ARE DOING WHAT?" he spluttered, looking aghast.

"Look at your face Potter. You look like a little Red Panda, all fushed!" Draco exclaimed laughing out loud now.

"I DO NOT." Harry interjected, looking furious. He stomped his feet in anger over the still laughing blonde's bare ones and walked away.

"Ow." Draco cried holding up his battred foot.

"That" Harry said turning around to face him again, "was for the ridiculous joke you just made." And with that he stuck out his tongue at the blonde and ran down the corridor.

"Oh no you don't." Draco shouted back running behind the brunette as he slid past the corridor towards his room. Harry shut the door of his room just in time for Draco to hit face-straight against it, breaking his nose.

"Bloddy hell. What the fuck Potter. Ow." Draco cried from the other side of the door. Harry was still panting from the run and he didn't realize what he had done until he heard the blonde scream again, "IT'S BLEEDING. MY NOSE. YOU FUCKING BROKE IT." Draco groaned, holding his bleeding nose against the sleeve of his jumper. Harry jolted open the door all at once on hearing the loud cry and saw Draco sprawled on the floor with his nose tucked beneath his sleeve. He was whimpering in pain.

"Merlin's beard Dra – Malfoy, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." Harry shuttered, kneeling beside him, trying to pull out Draco's hand from his face to see the damage he had made. Draco looked up at the other boy with anger burning in his eyes and he smacked Harry's hand away from himself, "Don't you dare touch me Potter. You fucking killed me." He seethed, still groaning.

"MALFOY! For Godric's sake just let me look at─ it. I can heal it." Harry shouted back at him still trying to get the blonde to shove off his hand from his bleeding nose.

"NO. DON'T YOU DARE POINT THAT WAND OF YOURS AT MY FACE." Draco whined back.

"Malfoy, Trust me. I won't hurt you, okay? You're bleeding. Just let me heal it." Harry pleaded softly. Draco looked back at him with hesitance but let go of his arm to show his broken nose. Harry looked at the bleeding nose and exhaled. Finally he pulled out his wand from his back pocket and pointed it straight at Draco's face, "Episkey." He chanted. With a soft pop, the bleeding disappeared from Draco's nose and he felt something inside it twitch. He got up from the floor and touched his nose with trembling hands, it was okay again. Harry got up from the floor as well and pocketed his wand back. Draco shot one last glare at him and started walking away.

Just as he was about to turn down the corridor he heard Harry calling out his name, he stopped but didn't turn. "Malfoy, Thank you for trusting me." Harry shouted.

"Malfoy's don't trust anybody." Draco hissed back at him, trying to cover every hint of the wide smile that was forming on his face.

"Sure." Harry grinned. He was as sure as Hermione would have been about her answers in the class, that Draco was smiling. _This certainly is the start of something new._

* * *

"Dinner's ready boys." Sirius's voice boomed across the whole house like he had used the sonorous charm. Harry woke up with a start at the roaring voice. He didn't realize when he had slept. After Draco had gone downstairs, Harry had spent some time admiring his newly decorated room. It was all clad in Red and Golden. The four-poster bed had Red blankets on it, golden pillow cases and red and golden curtains around the bed. His room was colored in the lightest shade of golden with the floor mattress shining red. He had a new study table by his bedside and a new cupboard which he was sure was of no use since he didn't have that much clothes to wear. But what had caught Harry attention the most was the wind chime that hung down around his window stale; A wind chime made of tinkling Golden snitches. Harry had been so overwhelmed by that little piece of decoration that he couldn't help but keep thinking about what Draco would have thought while buying that for him. _So now we're sure that Draco has bought this for us, wow._ He did not mind correcting the little voice in his head this time because he knew it was right. All of this had been so fascinating that Harry had never realized when he had fallen asleep on his Gryffindorish bed.

"Harry, come down now. We're waiting. And we're starving." Atleast Remus had the lucidity to not use the sonorous charm inside the house. Harry laughed at that as he made his way down the stairs.

Reaching the entrance of their kitchen Harry was beyond shocked by the image that lay ahead of him. He didn't know what had shocked him more, seeing muggle kitchen items like a microwave and a refrigerator in their Wizarding house kitchen or seeing a particular blonde wearing black hoodie jumper with a pair of grey pyjamas, sitting on the top of the kitchen platform scooping down his bowl with icecream. _Is that Draco Lucius Malfoy cladded in MUGGLE clothes sitting atop the kitchen platform having an icecream? Boy he does look smoking ho-_ Harry shook his head vigorously at the thought and blinked hundred times to clear the image from his head because he was sure he was dreaming.

"What's the matter Potter?" Draco drawled in his usual tone. "Don't you like our new kitchen?" he continued while getting down the platform and making his way towards where Sirius stood, placing his bowl of icecream by the microwave.

"What is this?" Harry was sure this wasn't just a dream.

"Oh you mean this?" Draco spoke before Sirius could say anything. "This," he said gesturing at the microwave, "is a MICROBAR." He exclaimed excitedly.

Harry was sure he would burst out laughing any moment but he maintained his composure and asked again innocently, "And what exactly is a MICROBAR, Malfoy?"

"It is a muggle cooking contraption Potter. It cooks food." Draco supplied in pure pride as he shared his knowledge about the newly found muggle contraption he had gained from Sirius.

Harry couldn't help but admire Draco's innocence and his self-confidence. He was sure now that Draco Malfoy knew nothing about the muggle world.

"And this," Draco said signaling at the Refrigerator, "it is the chilling box. It keeps the food inside it's belly stored and chilled. Like – like this icecream!"

Harry burst out laughing at the last comment. He knew he shouldn't be making fun of Draco like that but he couldn't stop. Draco turned back at Harry when he saw him laughing at him. If anything, Harry could see that Draco was hurt; hurt by being laughed at.

"What's so funny, Potter?" Draco sneered down at still-laughing Harry. Harry stopped laughing after a while and looked Draco straight in the eye, saying, "Nothing Malfoy, I just, I have never heard of those muggle contraptions before. And they seem funny." Harry finished. Sirius who had been watching the whole scene silently, suddenly raised his eyebrows at Harry questioningly. Harry knew what question lay in them but he ignored his Godfather's current inquiry by simply passing him a nonchalant smile.

"What did I miss?" Remus entered the kitchen holding a bowl full of Treacle fudge.

"Oh a grand introduction the the newest members of our little family." Sirius said dramatically. "Here, Remy, meet Mr. Microbar and Miss Chilling box," Remus's eyes grew widened as he saw the new appliances in their kitchen and his face broke into a grin when he recalled the names. Harry chuckled at the mentioned names taking a seat beside Sirius.

"So what has our new family members cooked us?"

They had Hertfordshire beef fillet and confit shin with rosemary and garlic potato fondant, grilled asparagus and red wine for dinner and Valrhona chocolate pavé with pistachio nut crumb and mango Chantilly cream for dessert.

After finishing washing the dinner plates, Remus and Harry joined Sirius and Draco in the living room. Harry was amused to see Draco engaged in a very polite conversation with his Godfather. On their arrival, Sirius looked at Remus with an satisfying smile, a gesture Remus whole-heartedly returned. As Harry sat down on the couch opposite to Draco and Sirius, Sirius spoke up, "Draco, did you show them the things we bought from Muggle London yet?"

"Oh no, it slipped my mind." Draco quipped bouncing back on his feet and dashing through the room towards the stairs. Few seconds later, Harry saw Draco levitate two big bags infront of him and hold a big brown rectangular box in his other hand as he made his way towards them.

"Here" he landed the bags in front of Sirius still holding onto the brown box in his hand.

"Harry, here you go." Sirius handed Harry his bag. Harry excitedly took the bag and examined the contents inside it. He gasped with disbelief when he pulled out the dozen pairs of clothing from the bag. There were all sorts of t-shirts, fannel shirts, hoodies similar to the one Draco was currently wearing, pyjamas bottoms, and ripped jeans. Harry looked up at his Godfather with awe in his eyes and mumbled softly, "Thank you. These are amazing."

"Well, don't thank me Harry. I didn't get them for you. Draco did." Sirius grinned.

Harry looked back at Draco with a surprised expression, quirking his eyebrows at him as if to ask 'Really'? Draco felt his cheeks turn red when Harry looked at him, eyebrows raised. He knew he looked like a red gummy bear blushing like that and quickly regained his usual bored expression. "Actually I just picked up the colors. Sirius payed for them." He said simply.

Harry grinned at Draco's statement. He knew very well what the blonde was trying to hide but he let it pass. Sirius handed the other bag to Remus and gestured him to open it. Remus too had been presented with piles of clothings and he greeted his lover with the same expressions, awe and adoration.

"And now, time for the best present." Draco chirped putting the box in his hands down upon the table and kneeled beside it, opening the box carefully. Harry looked pleasantly over to the blonde as he tried to open the box with a wide smile playing on his lips. After what felt like several long minutes, Draco finally unpacked the content of the mystery box.

"Ta-da" Draco squealed in a very Un-Malfoy like manner which Harry thought was very amusing until his eyes landed upon the object in Draco's hands; A Skateboard.

"You got yourself a Skateboard?" Harry didn't even bother to suppress his surprise.

"Yes." Draco grinned. "When we went down to Muggle London streets to find those clothing shops, I saw many boys and girls gliding down the streets upon these and I was bewitched. I wanted one for myself too. So I rummaged through the entire street and found this one shop that sold such boards. I went inside and asked the shopkeeper to show me one of those board. He showed me hundreds of different ones when my eyes fell upon this particular one." Draco held the skateboard high in both his hands for Harry and Remus to see. It was a gray board with orange colored ends and orange four wheels with Boosted written on it.

"I asked the shop keeper to give me this one. The muggle shopkeeper said it costed something like a thousand pounds. And I didn't even know what that meant. So I handed him a thousand gallons but he seemed to think I was tricking him with fake money."

"You gave the muggle shopkeeper Gringott's money?" Harry felt his stomach already starting to pain from the laugh he had earlier but he couldn't control his laughter and burst out laughing. Remus too chuckled at the other boy.

"Yes I did, Potter." Draco hissed back at him scathingly and continued, "but then Sirius found me at the shop arguing with the randy shopkeeper and helped me buy the board with muggle money." He completed.

"I wonder what the Randy muggle shopkeeper would have done with Gringott's money." Harry was still laughing when he said that.

"Stop wondering your pretty little head Potter and look at this." Draco placed the skateboard down on the floor and with one foot on it he dragged the board over the floor with his other foot and when he thought he had balanced himself proper he placed his other foot onto the rolling board and skated around the length of the room with his hands stretched by his sides, making sounds of pure ecstasy like "whoo-ho."

Harry had stopped laughing by now and he was watching Draco keenly, a small smile playing on his lips as he saw the blonde gliding down the hall on his board like a five year old kid. _He looks adorable like that, doesn't he?_ Harry absently nodded at that. Harry thought he had never seen Draco Malfoy so over-joyed in his entire life _._ He was still smiling when he tore his eyes away from a very happy skating Draco and planted them on his Godfathers. Sirius and Remus both looked happy and content, watching Draco in his ecstasy like that.

It wasn't until Harry heard a loud thud that he looked back in Draco's direction and saw him collapsed onto the floor on his arse with the skateboard reeling away down the hall. Harry jumped out of his seat with a start and so did his Godfathers. Harry darted back towards Draco and stood in front of him, his face worried. Remus tried to get there to see if Draco was alright but was stopped by Sirius who gave him a look that said 'let Harry handle that'.

"I slipped." Draco equipped before Harry could ask him anything.

"Sure you did." Harry snorted and Draco glared daggers at him. He tried to get up but couldn't find the support to do so. Harry watched Draco struggle for a minute and then slowly pulled out his hand and stretched it in front of Draco for him to hold it and get up. Draco looked up at the extended hand in front of him and suddenly an old memory forged into his mind. . .

 _"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."_

 _Draco held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it._

 _"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," Harry said coolly._

Harry looked down at Draco with curious eyes when the blonde didn't take his hand to get up, and he saw him lost in his thoughts. He cleared his throat in order to make Draco come out of his trance and he succeeded. Draco once again looked back up at Harry and his still extended hand. With a wicked smirk forming on his face, Draco took Harry's hand and balanced himself to get up.

Once up, Draco shot Harry a very smug look and exclaimed, "Funny Potter, it took you almost seven years to tell the wrong sort for yourself." And with that he let go of a very dumbstruck Harry Potter's hand.


	6. A Slight Inclination

Disclaimer: Characters are, of course, owned by J.K. Rowling. I own nothing, but oh yes, I'd so love to borrow Draco indefinitely.

Author's Note : Happy weekend readers. I hope you all had a wonderful week. I'm sorry for the delay in updating. I'd just been caught up with studies and college and stuff. But the next chapter's here. It's full of cute Drarry moments, some more Malfoy/Muggle contraption interactions and a small yet very entertaining Gryffindor reunion. I hope you have as much fun reading it as much I had while writing it. Also, a big surprise awaits in the following chapters. Stick on to find out soon. Please read and leave your reviews fam. Much love, XOXO.

Chapter 6

 **A SLIGHT INCLINATION**

Won't admit what I already know  
I've never been the best at letting go  
I don't wanna spend the night alone  
Guess I need you, and I need to

Make it on my own, but I don't wanna grow up  
We can stay forever young

I could give a million reasons why  
But you're going, and you know that

All you have to do is stay a minute  
Just take your time  
The clock is ticking, so stay  
All you have to do is wait a second  
Your hands on mine  
The clock is ticking, so stay.

 **Stay** by Alessia Cara and Zedd

" _Hold it, Potter._ " Draco flinched at his own voice. " _That's my wand you're holding, Potter,"_

" _Not anymore," "Winners, keepers, Malfoy. Who's lent you theirs?"_ Harry's cold voice ringed in his ears next.

" _So how did you get in here?"_

"I _virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last year,_ " " _I know how to get in."_

" _No!"_ _"If you wreck the room you might bury this diadem thing!"_ His own scream filled his eardrums, making them vibrate painfully enough for him to scuffle in his sleep.

" _Who cares what you think? I don't take your orders no more, Draco. You an' your dad are finished."_

" _STOP!" "The Dark Lord wants him alive —"_

" _Don't kill him! DON'T KILL HIM!"_ He was sweating profusely now, flinching on his bed like he was under some kind of cruciatus curse, tears rolling down his tightly shut eyes.

" _Like it hot, scum?"_ Crabbe's voice screeched into his mind at an alarming pitch. And his vision was suddenly filled with red and orange flashes of fire.

" _RUN!"_ He nearly shouted through his nightmare, panicking that the hot flames would eat him up alive this time for sure. Draco whimpered in fear and pain, awaiting someone to come and rescue him from his certain death. Each second that passed by felt deadly, he was losing his consciousness, slowly yet surely. His lungs felt heavy and they burned. His arms were wrapped around an unconscious Goyle, holding him tight, steadying them both as he perched on a fragile tower of charred desks. His breath hitched in his throat, skin burning from the radiating heat, tears dripping on his cheeks and trailing down his neck, he waited.

And sure enough someone dived down towards him breaking in through the growing fire flames. Draco saw Harry coming and raised one arm, but even as Harry grasped it he knew at once that it was no good: Goyle was too heavy and his own hand, covered in sweat, slid instantly out of Harry's —

He sniveled onto the pillow beneath his head which was by now soaked with his salty tears and sweat, clutched the soft blankets around his torso into a tight grip as if they weren't blankets but Harry's hands; hands of his protector.

" _IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY!"_ roared Ron's voice, and, as a great flaming chimaera bore down upon them, he saw Ron and Hermione drag Goyle onto their broom and rise, rolling and pitching, into the air. And again before he could adjust his eyes back upon anything, he felt Harry's tight grasp pull him up and away from the Fiendfire, he clambered up behind Harry. He gasped in his sleep, his fingers clutching the blankets more firmly.

" _The door, get to the door, the door!_ " he screamed in Harry's ear, and he felt the broom speed up, through the billowing black smoke, he was suffocating now, hardly able to breathe: and all around them the last few objects unburned by the devouring flames were flung into the air, as the creatures of the cursed fire cast them high in celebration. He was screaming frantically and holding Harry so tightly that he thought maybe he might be hurting Harry.

" _What are you doing, what are you doing, the door's that way!"_ he squalled again when he felt Harry detouring from the path that lead to the doors. And in an instant he felt his lungs give up, he struggled for air, fresh air but all his lungs found was smoke and dust and ashes. His vision started blurring again, and he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. With drooping eyelids, palpitating heart, he felt his grip loosening around Harry's waist slowly and slowly. He panicked once again, inhaling a sharp breath, he tried to scream once more but his voice defied him, leaving him mute. His hands were slipping and he was feeling dizzy now. The fire and the room danced around his already drooping eyelids, unsettling giddiness embraced his brain and in no time his hands completely loosened their grip and he was falling. . . falling down into the pit of flames. . .

"NO! NO! HARRY! HELP! SAVE ME!" he was shouting now. Twisting and tossing on his sweat-soaked bed, he knew he was going to die. He could feel the touch of oblivion at the tips of his paralyzed fingers.

He could feel the skin on his back heating, his clothes catching flares of herth . "HELP ME. SAVE ME! HARRY! DON'T LEAVE ME!" he bellowed.

Harry had been asleep in his room when he was awoken by a shrill cry. For a moment he sat on his bed, hand running through his mop of hair, thinking it was his own scream that had woke him because often he had woken up at nights to his own cries when he had his nightmares. Sighing, he was about to flop back onto the bed, still contemplating that in his mind, when he heard another loud cry. He shot his head up this time because he was sure the voice had came from the room beside his; Draco's room. Without another moment's delay, he picked up his glasses from the bedside table and shoved them on, rushing to Draco's room, and yanking the door open. The sight that followed left him horrified. Draco was still asleep but he was bawling. His hands were trembling and his body shaking, as if in pain. Harry noticed Draco's fingers were dug into the bedsheets beside him, gripping them firmly. And his head was turning from side to side crushing the pillow under it, tears streaking down his tightly shut eyes onto his cheeks and down the pillow cases.

Before Harry could understand any further, he heard another loud cry. "NO! NO! HARRY! HELP! SAVE ME!" Harry was beyond shocked when he heard his name coming out from Draco's mouth and he stared at the withering boy ahead of him with bewildered eyes. A second passed by when another agonizing cry filled his ears, "HELP ME. SAVE ME! HARRY! DON'T LEAVE ME! And that was it. He dashed towards Draco's bed side, ruminating every possible way he can wake Draco up from whatever nightmare he was having but his mind didn't seem to accord his thoughts. Draco was still crying and tossing on his sides upon the bed, calling out for Harry. "HARRR- "

"Shh. It's okay. I've got you. I'm here." Harry spoke softly. The sobs grew soft but were still there, on Draco's lips. Tears were still tickling down his pale cheeks and his hand was still gripping the sheets tight; his knuckles almost white.

Harry reached up to the other boy's bedside, and leaned down on the side of the bedpost, whispering, "Draco, I'm here. Don't worry. It's alright." A small moan escaped from Draco's mouth as he turned his face towards the source of that soft voice. For a moment, Harry felt scared. Draco's face was mere inches apart from his own now. And he must be damned if he said he didn't feel the urge to touch that pale skin on the other boy's cheeks and jaw. Another silent tear made it's way down the pale cheek. Harry frowned at the drop of salty water for a second and with one fast heartbeat, he cupped the blonde's face in his hands. A sharp jolt of lightning ran down his spine as his hands touched Draco's face. He was perplexed for a moment. He didn't knew what was happening but his gut was twisting in a very pleasant manner and the jolts of lightning were running along every nerve in his body. He was still speculating the feeling when Draco squirmed beneath his touch. And Harry numbed in horror. But he wasn't awake yet if his calm breathing was anything to go by. Sighing in relief, Harry stared at the blonde in front of him for a minute, talking in every contour on the boy's face and the creamy complexion of his skin. He let the thumbs of his hands rub away the wet spots of tears that'd escaped from those tightly shut eyes. _What are you doing?_ The voice inside him was screaming but he was far too out of his own mind to hear any of it. He could feel the cold, pale skin beneath his hands, and he was too adamant to let go. He was loving this feeling and didn't want to lose it just yet.

Placing his mouth near Draco's ear, he whispered again, "Draco, I won't let go. I won't leave you." That earned him another soft moan from the sleeping blonde which made his heart skip a beat. _HARRY POTTER! WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?_ Harry was silent for a minute, a very long minute. All the while, a thought growing inside his mind, like a seed that'd been planted years ago but has just sprouted and was now growing in steadily, branching out into places deep inside his brain he didn't even knew would've existed before.

His string of thoughts were broken when he felt the blonde stir in his sleep, again. This time more rigorously. Startled by the movement, Harry jerked his hands away from Draco's face and fell back on the floor behind him. _Shit. He's awake!_ Panic rose in Harry's gut as he scrambled himself off the floor and onto his feet, ready to storm out of the room, lest the blonde wakes up and he has to face his wrath for touching him. Hurriedly, he walked away from the bedside, his feet trembling, face flushed as if he'd been caught doing something indecent, and hands tingly from the last touch of pale, creamy, cold skin. Just as he was about to turn the knob on the door open, he heard a faint mumble. "Please don't leave."

Harry pacified his hand on the doorknob, not sure if the voice had even been real. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, shock-still, facing the door but it must have been long enough because another soft whisper hurdled in his ears, "Stay."

Slowly but steadily he turned back to face the source from where those mumbles had originated, keeping his head hung low, eyes squeezed shut. A knot was making it's way into his gut and he could already feel his cheeks heated with all the blood that'd filled beneath his skin and he was sure he was scarlet red now. He was prepared for the anger and shaming that was going to be thrown at him for doing something so stupid as touching Draco Malfoy. He knew the vicious hiss would slaughter his ears any moment now and was prepared. Only that it never happened. When he was sure he'd been standing there for so long and no angry fit had been thrown at him yet, he slowly raised his head and opened his eyes, to scrutinize what had took so long for the malicious humiliation to take place, but the sight that followed held him appalled.

Draco Malfoy was staring right at him through heavy-lidded eyes, still laying down tangled in the sheets and his grey eyes filled with some emotion he couldn't fathom what. When he made no move to walk back, still standing fixed at the spot near the door, Draco snorted; a very Un-Malfoy kind of snort. "Honestly Potter, just a moment ago you were cradling me with your warm touches and now you look at me as if I'm a bloody dementor." He drawled in a mock-hurt way, sitting up straight on the bed and letting his head rest by the headboard.

Harry was still in confusion. He was prepared for the anger and shaming, not the humor and hurt that'd greeted him. _What am I supposed to do now?_ He fumbled with the ends of his shirt which suddenly appeared to be the most interesting thing in the entire planet. _He's gonna mock you until you're nothing but a lump of regret for doing whatever you did tonight. You're doomed, Harry Potter._ The voice inside his head was growing and he frowned at it, still tugging the ends of his very-interesting shirt.

"Thank You." Another soft whisper greeted his ears which made him shoot up his head. Draco was still sitting on his bed but his head was now hung low, eyes squeezed shut and hands trembling in his own lap; as if imitating Harry's earlier pose. Harry was sure it was Draco's voice that'd spoken and not just his devil mind making up imaginary voices. He felt something inside his stomach churn at the sight in front of him. The Draco Malfoy he knew since he was eleven wasn't one to say humble things like 'Thank you' or 'Sorry' to anyone ever nor was he one to adopt such vulnerable mien. _What has happened to him?_

Without further thoughts, Harry slowly made his way towards the bed. He wasn't sure what he was going to do next. But he was sure about one thing; The Draco Malfoy, sitting in front of him at this moment was not his arch-enemy anymore.

Reaching the bed, Harry cleared his throat, in order to gain the blonde's attention which also made him realize about the lump that'd formed inside it merlin knows when. Draco was startled by the sudden sound and the warm feeling surrounding him. He opened his eyes and gazed at the raven-haired boy standing up close next to him. The moment when his grey eyes met those bright green, a very warm fluttering feeling bubbled inside his whole body making him feel dizzy and boggly with unknown emotions. They stared at each other for a long moment, as if trying to memorize each turn of the maze that their irises beheld.

It was Harry that looked away first; blush creeping all the way down his face and neck. Draco must have noticed it, he was sure by the way the blonde boy was now looking up at him with mere fascination. _Speak something you dumb idiot._ He fumbled with the words that were forming inside his throat but never reaching his damned voice box. Finally, he sighed. And tried again, "Err, I, I did-" but was cut short by Draco's sudden interruption.

"Don't you dare voice it, Potter." Draco hissed. Harry flinched by the sound of it but felt vaguely relieved that he didn't need to explain his actions anymore. Before he could frame another coherent sentence in his mind, he saw Draco shifting the wet bed sheets and mutter a simple scourgify to clean up the mess he had made earlier. Once the sheets and pillowcases were clean and dry, he tumbled to the other side of the bed, as if making room for someone beside him. Harry was all but curious now. He stared down at the empty side of the bed and couldn't help but imagine what Draco meant by his latest action. _Does this mean he wants me to sleep beside him? Is that why he asked me to stay back?_

When he looked up from the bed and towards Draco, ready to shoot all of his questions at the blonde in a single breath, he found the other boy already staring back at him, his eyes still a mixture of emotions Harry couldn't figure out. And again, he was at loss of words.

"Stop gawking at the bed like that Potter. I asked you to stay. And it wouldn't be so nice of me if I made the Savior of the Wizarding world sleep on the floor, now would it be? So then get your confused arse on the bed and drift back to neverland." Draco smirked at the other boy and plopped himself down on the bed, turning his back towards a very-flushed Harry Potter. Harry knew the words weren't laced with bitterness but he had to resist the strong urge to retort back with some snide comment of his sown. That nasty ferret could still get a rise of him even if that's through mock-sneer words.

But above all, Harry was flushed, again. He felt his cheeks were on fire and dreaded that the tint was going to stay there permanently somehow. Without much thought, he flopped himself on the bed, beside the blonde. He had had enough of thinking and rationalizing their actions in his mind for the day and was now aching for a good night's sleep. Although he wasn't sure how he was going to get any sleep while he lay mere inches apart from the boy who evoked strange sensations and feelings inside him. There was a small sound of something clanking from the bedside table opposite from him and after a small swish the room went dark.

As Harry lay there, he could feel the eeriness of the night crawl in. The room was silent except for his own ragged breathing and soft huffs of breaths from the other side of the bed. Harry couldn't help but let his mind go wander. It was still trying assert that the 'Thank You' he'd earned tonight was merely because he had saved Draco from his horrible nightmare and made him feel better but his heart that was pounding vigorously inside his chest seemed to contradict the statement. It seemed as if it knew exactly what the two words had been spoken for. As if it was trying to make Harry realize what he was missing. Those two words of humbleness that he had earned tonight were for saving the said blonde's life from the monstrous fire that night in the room of requirement. Harry could still clearly visualize Draco's panic-sticken and terror-filled face. He could still hear the blonde's shrill cries in his ears as he had clung to Harry on his broom until they'd flew past the flames and were safe again.

He was so deeply engrossed in his thoughts about that fretful night that he almost missed it when Draco whispered something from the other side of the bed.

"Potter, you still awake?" Draco asked again, a little loud this time.

"Huh? Er. Yeah. I'm." Harry replied, startled from his train of thoughts.

"Well, nothing. Just make sure you don't snore at night or you will be woken up abruptly by a rude pillow crushing on to your face." Draco sneered, his voice lacking every ounce of spite he had tried to endow in the sentence.

Harry chuckled in his pillow. "Git." he mumbled.

"Prat." Draco huffed.

* * *

Next morning greeted Harry with a swift kick on his arse and stone cold floor.

"Bloody hell." Harry yelped as he picked himself up clumsily from the floor he'd hit, searching for his glasses on the bedside table. Shoving them onto his nose he blinked as his vision cleared out infront of him. And when his eyes flashed over a very familiar shade of platinum blonde hair, he shouted again, "What'd you kick me for? You bastard."

"It's me greeting you Good Morning, Potter." Draco drawled, standing on the other side of the four-poster and frantically searching for something inside his closet, his back at Harry.

"You're an arsehole." Harry howled, pacing down the room, stomping his feet hard on the wooden floor and making his way towards the door. He was yet to turn red, the understanding of their little impromptu night-stay still tucked inside some dark corner of his brain, hiding.

"And you're a terrible sleeper, Potter. Taking beds for roller-coasters, are we now? Draco turned towards him and smirked. His very own 'Draco Malfoy smirk' that'd make almost anyone drool for him.

Although Harry didn't feel like drooling, he felt sick. That realization of the night had dawned upon his dim mind now and he was sure he looked like a ripened cherry. They'd shared a bed for the night. He'd slept with Draco Malfoy, well not quite literally, but they had slept in the same bed and just inches away from each other and that was something.

Instantaneously looking away from Draco, he mumbled, "Insufferable Git." and dashed out of the room. Draco rolled his eyes at his retreating back and chuckled. He stood there for a moment longer, just staring at the door Harry had dashed out seconds ago, a small smile forming on his lips when he heard a loud thud from downstairs and seconds later Harry's voice booming all sorts of curse words. Draco couldn't help but let out a stifle of laughter at the clumsy boy, "Daft twat." He yelled back.

* * *

Draco took his time while getting ready. He'd spent almost an hour or so in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to get his messed up hair in a decent row but failed every time. He groaned at his reflection in the mirror with frustration and decided his hair wasn't worth the waste of time today. So he left them dry and loose all over his forehead without sleeking them and rushed downstairs to get himself a cup of hot tea.

There was this thing about Draco's mornings; he wouldn't start his day without his cup of hot tea, no matter what. Tea always made him feel light-headed and energized to go on for the rest of the day. Although for the past few months he'd completely forgotten what a mug of his favorite liquid tasted like, he was pretty sure Sirius would have some stock of the flavor tea he loved, after all he too came from a pure-blood family.

Heading down into the kitchen, he heard a strange sound coming from the living room. Strange and loud and _musical?_ He was sure it must've been some wireless or something. He'd seen his mother listening to some of her favorite songs on that strange device ever since he was a baby. Though that wireless had enticed his interest back then, he'd never tried to touch it; lest it didn't like him and bite him.

He was broken from his trance when the voice became too loud suddenly and that was when he noticed he'd stopped in his tracks. Shaking his head off the thoughts of his mother and her wireless, he detoured towards the living room only to find a very clumsily sprawled Harry on the couch in front of a very very strange rectangular box having a big black mirror that displayed different color pictures that were moving in accord to the blasting music coming somewhere from it's sides. He stopped dead in his track once again, his eyes wide and glued to the booming box in the middle of the hall.

"Ugh, what – what is this?" he asked, his voice a mere whisper when he moved close to the couch where Harry had been lounging.

"Oh, hey. Malfoy, here meet Telly. Telly meet Malfoy." Harry announced as he sat up from the couch, making place for Draco to sit.

Draco was suddenly very nervous. He looked at Harry and back at the thing Harry had just introduced to him as telly, gulping. Harry looked at him, amused like he was trying to make fun of the fact that Draco had no idea whatever this Telly thingy was. Draco frowned at him, "Now that Telly and I both know each other, Can you at least tell me what precisely this Telly thingy is?"

"Er. Yeah. Right. Um, how do you describe a Telly?" Harry groaned. "It's for entertainment. It's like a wizarding photograph but with sound, and people in them act out stories." Harry gestured towards the big screen in front of them which surely had many people going about dancing and singing to some odd kind of music. "Or they read the news or play sports. Although we haven't got the sky package installed yet. Sirius said he'd get it done by tomorrow. Then I bet there'll be surely something you'll like watching." Harry added.

Draco frowned again. "Why would I want to watch muggles talking about the sky?"

Harry laughed. "It's, um, it's not something to watch. It's the dish we'll need to get installed so we can see other channels besides the basic ones." Then turning towards the Telly, Harry spoke, "Hey Telly, don't worry, Malfoy here comes from a very pure blood wizarding family so he doesn't know the muggle world much. Hence the silly questions. But I'm sure he'll love you once he sees how amazing you're."

Draco went wide-eyed again. "It's sentient?" he whispered again, afraid that the telly might hear him over it's own voice and come and strangle him.

Harry laughed again. "Not quite. But it is very clever."

Draco nodded and tried to look as if he knew what Harry was talking about. Harry wasn't fooled, and smiled at him indulgently.

"So here, this is the remote. We control the telly by using this." Harry handed him a long, sleek piece of brick.

"Is that some sort of muggle wand?" Draco inquired, examining the remote in his hand.

"Well you can put it that way. The top green button, here, this one, it turns the telly on. And that red one off's it. And these numbers are for shuffling between different channels. Two and seven are the best." Harry supplied.

Draco still didn't really understand but Harry gestured him to press the buttons so he gingerly pushed a button at the top. And the next instant he nearly dropped the remote – the telly was reacting! The dancing people from the screen disappeared and after a split second another group of people occupied their place. There was a guy holding a knife in his hand while another guy was lying in a puddle of blood in front of him, screaming. Draco yelled and threw up an arm to shield his eyes. Next to him he could feel Harry chuckle and pick up the remote from the rug and press something on it and in an instant the screams were gone. Draco split his fingers from his face and peered from between them. The telly now had a girl in it, singing in front of three people seated in odd armchairs. Finally when he is sure that the telly won't show him anything horrible he slipped his hand from his face and relaxed.

"What in merlin's name was that? What kind of horrible things do muggles watch for entertainment?" He sneered.

"It's was just a muggle thriller movie Malfoy. Nothing real, relax." Harry explained.

When Draco seemed to have visibly relaxed a bit, Harry continued, "This is an amazing show though, 'The X Factor'. Here people come and try to sing and impress those three judges. Whoever gets selected gets a chance to sing for famous franchises and brands and stuff. Basically it's a show to find out the best singer in the country"

"Well, it's definitely not this one." Draco commented as the girl singing in front of him in the telly hit a hideously flat note.

"Maybe the next one will be better." Harry added, smiling.

"So, who bought this telly here?" Draco asked once he had settled on the couch beside Harry.

"Sirius and Remus did. They actually bought it three days ago when we were here for a break from the burrow. It got delivered just today morning though. We had been bored over the whole month and thought bringing in a telly would be really good idea. Also, Sirius loves punk rock and telly serves him just that" Harry replied, smiling fondly at the image of his Godfather singing along the lines of his favorite rock band's songs.

"And how exactly does it work here? I mean, muggle contraptions don't work in wizarding households, do they?" Draco was now genuinely interested.

"They don't. But Remus got it done. All these muggle contraptions work on electricity and Remus got few very amazing spells casted on the house that made it friendly with the electricity supply from the neighboring muggle flats. Er, I don't exactly know how this works but that's what he told me." Harry answered.

"Brilliant." Draco exclaimed. "So that's how the Microbar and the chilling box works too then? On the elekctrity?" Draco beemed with excitement at his new found knowledge.

Harry barely suppressed his laughter at how Draco had pronounced the word electricity. They were both seated on the same couch, next to each other, close. _Well the couch isn't very big and spacy exactly_ Harry had reasoned within his head. He had scooted an inch closer when Draco had been busy shuffling the channels and expressing his delight at the telly. "Yes, that's how." He replied softly.

Both Harry and Draco spent the next hour or so watching random shows on the telly. Draco had been excited the whole time. He'd muse over the music videos, commented his own opinions about how those ladies were unfaithful towards their spouses in some American movie, spat silly curse words as the boxing championship had enticed his interest. "It's brutal but so interesti- Ow no, don't! Fuck, is he dead?" He'd comment every time someone would get knocked out.

Harry had been watching him the entire time. Though the telly was an interesting thing, he'd found Draco's stupid comments and his balmy face expressions much more interesting to watch. He'd skirt his eyes towards the blonde every two seconds. At first he did that voluntarily, coaxed by the way Draco made faces and stuck out his tongue whenever the barmy housewife failed in her missions of catching her husband red-handed in the movie. But as the hour proceeded, his actions had become involuntary. He had scooted further close to Draco so that their shoulders touched every time Draco moved a even little (which he did every five seconds, that bastard). And he'd stare back at the blonde for times more than he should. And somehow Draco seemed oblivious of it all. Harry wasn't sure if he really didn't notice all of that or was purposefully ignoring the fact. Nonetheless, Harry was loving this and he hoped Draco would too. There was something in the way Harry felt when he was so close to Draco. Like little sparks of lightning running inside his veins, rocking and jolting him in ways he couldn't even describe. His skin felt on fire every time it brushed to the blonde's. It was just like he felt last night when he had touched Draco. He wasn't sure if Draco felt that way too. If he could feel the spark between them whenever they'd touch (accidentally, Harry added). He didn't quite understand what those feelings were but he knew one thing for sure now, this Draco Malfoy wasn't his enemy now, he was something else, something more.

* * *

It was almost noon when Draco looked away from the big screen in front of him and squirmed a little. Harry adjusted his weight away from the blonde and sat up straight now. He wasn't even sure when he'd laid himself upon the boy beside him. "Hungry?" he asked, standing up from the couch and walking towards the kitchen.

"You can cook?" Draco stared at him incredulously.

"Nope. But Remus left us some takeaways from the restaurant before going. I guess I can just warm those and it'd suffice." Harry was sure he saw a hint of disbelief in those grey eyes. _Maybe he doesn't know what a takeaway is!_

If Draco was surprised, he didn't let it show. Instead, "Where have they gone anyway?" he asked, standing up from the couch and nervously pressing the red button on the muggle wand still in his hand. Thankfully the telly went black in an instant and he sighed in relief. _What were you thinking? That it'd jump and knock you down?_ That earned his subconscious a major eye roll.

Making his way towards the kitchen, he picked up his skateboard from beside the huge umbrella stand. _Who keeps such giant umbrella stands in the way?_

"To Hogwarts." Harry said softly. He didn't know how Draco would take the piece of information. He knew Draco had his share of hardships in the school. He knew how the mention of it's name would be enough to bring back terrible memories, he knew because he'd experienced it too. Every time someone would mention something about that place, a cold shiver would run down his spine. He loved the place, of course he did. It was his home. But the fact that he'd experienced so much hurt and pain and loss at the same place over the last two years made him feel sick. He'd seen people crying in pain from unforgivable curses, he'd seen many of his friends and their families and other unknown people die at a war that was supposed to be solely his own. He'd seen the school burn and fall into crumbles in front of his eye. And he too had died there. And though he'd come back to life, he'd never forget the feeling of being dead. Though Voldemort's gone, his wrong doing to his home still stay. And somehow Harry knew Draco had suffered even more than he had. He'd lost his parents. . . He shook his head at the mental images and let go of the thoughts. He didn't need to think about all these at the moment, not at least when the aforementioned boy was now standing right in front of him, staring at him, his face schooled for calm and cold composure, but Harry knew better. _He was terrified_.

"What for?" Draco asked, his voice calm. As if the mention of that place didn't bother him at all. As if he wasn't terrified on the inside upon the images that were swarming inside his head at the moment. As if he was over the shrill cries of his mother lying in his lap when she'd been hit with the green jets of –

"Dumbledore owled this morning. He said he needed to talk about something important regarding the school and the eight year plans. Maybe it's because pads and moony are in the head auror department and so he might have called them, though even they had no idea what it was for as Dumbledore hadn't exactly mentioned the reason." Harry spoke fast, trying to make the other boy break from his series of cognition.

Draco gave a wry smile at that, "Sure, leave it upon Dumbledore to give you pieces of the information and lay back and muse over your wrecked brain as it tries to make the full picture of it."

Harry didn't know if that was supposed to be a joke, so he did the only thing he did best at times like this, gave his charming 'I'm Harry bloody Potter' smile. Draco didn't look up at him though, he slid past the kitchen table and hopped on his skateboard, sliding past the room.

"Merlin, don't skate in the kitchen Malfoy! You'd knock everything down." Harry shouted from behind him.

"Then you can just reparo everything, You're a wizard, you silly scarhead." Draco shouted back, already zooming past the hallway now.

"Nasty ferret." Harry mumbled, smiling, _again._

* * *

After their lunch, Harry spent an entire hour cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, thanks to the bloody ferret and his stupid skateboard, When he was finished, he felt nothing but tired. Cleaning up the broken pieces of cauldrons and glass cups with a broom and not his wand was his idea, because he still loved his muggle life no matter how hard it might have been. However that didn't earn him anything other than random comments from a very irritating slimey git, who preferred Harry used his daft head and magic to clean the mess up in an instant. He didn't bother helping though, that bastard. Harry had to use his magic finally, if only to silencio that idiot. Looking back to the cleaned kitchen, he heaved a sigh of relief and galloped to his room. He had a meeting with Ron, Hermione and Ginny today at the Leaky Cauldron and he was already late.

Few minutes later when he scurried down the hall, hastily pulling down his hoody over his head, he saw Draco lying down on the couch, his eyes glued to the telly. Harry couldn't help but resist his chuckle. Of all the things, he'd never imagined Draco Malfoy, the purest pure blood of the wizarding world, glued to a piece of muggle contraption like that.

"What are you chuckling at Potter?" Draco drawled, his attention shifted towards Harry now.

"Er. Nothing. Never thought you'd love muggles this much." Harry sniggered, making his way down the hall and towards the fireplace.

"I DO NOT love muggles. This is just a clever invention and I'm appreciating those baffoon's work by sparing my valuable time and energy upon it."

"Yeah. Right." Harry chortled.

"Whatever. So where is the Golden boy headed to now?"

"Don't call me that." Harry glared back at him and continued, "And to The Leaky. Ron, Mione and Ginny are meeting me there."

Draco rolled his eyes, "So it's a Gryffindork party, is it?" Harry frowned at the blonde.

"Whatever Malfoy. I'll be back by the evening. Until then refrain your arse from burning this house down. And mind you, DO NOT TAKE YOUR BLOODY SKATEBOARD ANYWHERE NEAR THE KITCHEN OR I'LL HEX THE SHIT OUTTA YOU." With that he stepped into the fireplace and chanted 'The Leaky Cauldron' and flooed away.

* * *

"Oi, over here mate." Ron's voice boomed from across the room as Harry stepped out from the pub's fireplace, dusting the powder from his jumper and jeans.

As he made his way towards the little group, he noticed the supposedly trio wasn't alone. Along them sat Neville and Luna, both seemingly excited to meet Harry after one long month. Harry felt the same happiness seeing his best friends after long and went straight to hug them both. After the hugs and lovely greetings, they ordered their drinks. Ron and to Harry's surprise, Neville, went for Firewhiskey while he and the girls stuck to their Butterbeers. An hour or so passed by as they sat there and chatted about almost nothing and everything. Harry was more than happy now that they'd no bad news to discuss about and no strategies to plan. He loved how free he felt at the moment, just sitting there and talking about random stuffs about their friends, their family and their love interests.

"Speaking of affairs, what's going on between the two of you these days?" Ron eyed Neville and Luna from the rim of his cup.

"Yeah. Cummon tell us Looney, have you two proposed each other yet?" Ginny chirped in, making Luna go red from her cheeks to her coller bone while Neville nervously fidgeted in his seat. The table rolled in laughter at their visible shyness and suddenly the conversation shifted towards Harry.

"Harry, I've heard you share the house with Draco these days, don't you?" Luna asked, gleefully. It was Harry's turn to squirm in his seat now.

"Er, yeah. I do." Harry replied, gulping down his butterbeer. _Merlin, not this conversation. Not now._

"I bet it's fun. With him, Draco." Luna still sounded delighted.

"Oh yes I bet Harry has a lot of wrackspurts swarming around his head these days, doesn't he Looney? After all that ferret is bound to make his head go fussy." Ron chuckled, earning a smack on his ribs from Hermione. "Ow, what mione?" he growled.

"I'm sure Harry's having a good time there. Malfoy doesn't seem so vicious now. I don't think he's gonna do anything to make Harry's life harder." Hermione asserted, glaring down at her boyfriend. Luna nodded in approval while Ron sulked down in his seat. Harry passed a thankful smile towards Hermione though he didn't know why he felt so good that at least some of his friends were trying to accept Draco as a part of his life now.

"Besides, I think our Harry is far more brave than we all credit him for. He would know if Malfoy would try to do any wrong and will take him down that instant. Isn't it Harry?" Neville piped in, passing a warm smile towards Harry. Harry didn't know if he felt honored or deflated at the comment. Still he tried to put on his best smile and replied, "I will Nev." _Would Draco do him any wrong? And would he have the courage enough to take him down should he tried?_

Harry was still in his thoughts when Ginny's loud voice boomed from the other side of the table. "Oi, shutup you tossers. Harry doesn't need fighting advices. He needs love lessons right now." She was looking at Harry with an amused smirk plastered on her face and wriggled her eyebrows at him deviously when he glared at her.

At that the whole table broke into a frenzy of questions. And before Harry had the time to assimilate what precisely Ginny had meant by love lessons and why were they even needed, he was assaulted with legions of questions.

"What? Mate you never told me you found someone!" Ron glared at him.

"Harry, are you seeing someone?" Neville asked, with a glint of surprise in his eyes.

"Ron! Of course Harry's not found anyone yet. He'd have told us very first if he had. Isn't it Harry?" Hermione interjected.

"But- but I thought he liked Draco now." Luna mumbled in a dejected tone. So many things happened in the same instant that Harry didn't even get the time to fully grasp her words. Ron choked on his drink and started coughing vigorously while Neville spat his own firewhiskey all across the table. Ginny had rolled down the floor laughing and Hermione had to silencio their table in order to stop the attention they had been gaining in the past few minutes. Luna still looked crestfallen and was sipping at her butterbeer, her face sullen. Harry looked frantically at his friends, still oblivious of what had caused the sudden chaos. It wasn't until a few seconds later that his mind started to pick up pace and he realized what Luna had said. And now it was his turn to spill his butterbeer on the table. "Wha - what? No." he squealed. "I do not like Dra - Malfoy, Luna." He honestly couldn't believe Luna had said that. He could never _like_ Draco in that way, could he?

"I'm sorry Harry. I just meant. Oh nevermind. I do hope you'll realize it soon." Luna exclaimed, dreamily.

"Realize what Luna?" Ron grumbled, still recovering from his coughing fit.

"That Harry is falling for Draco." Luna mused, beaming in delectation at Harry.

"Merlin's shaggy tits Luna. Are you insane? Harry would never shag that slimey gi- Ow" Ron yelped with pain as Hermione, one again, hit him in the shin under the table.

The conversation went on for another half an hour but Harry wasn't a part of it anymore. Though the person in topic was still obviously him, he'd lost his interest moments ago and was now deeply immersed in his own thoughts. _Did he really fancy Draco_? Of course not. _But then Draco wasn't his enemy anymore, he was something more to him!_ A friend. _Maybe something more?_ More? _Well you do love to spend time with that_ _prat. And don't you dare deny that you love the way he makes your gut twist by the way he looks at you. Maybe you even love the sparks of lightning that you feel whenever your skins touch, don't you? You like the way he smiles, the wide, charming, honest smiles. You like the way he makes a mess of the situations by his witty remarks. You like his smart mouth and his challenges. And you also cannot deny the fact that you loved sharing his bed last night even though only because it kept your own nightmares away, didn't you? Bed, night, nightmares, sharing. . ._

Coming to his senses, Harry looked around the pub and outside from the little window to see the sky already turning black. He suddenly bolted up from his seat. All the other five people seated across him casted worried glances at him as he rushed to grab his wand from the table and tuck it in the back pocket of his jeans. "I've got to go guys. I'll see you around this weekend. And Ron, thanks for the drink mate." He spoke hurriedly as he made his way back to the fireplace.

"But where are you going, mate?" Ron yelled behind him in time as Hermione took off the silencing charm.

"Home." Harry shouted back without casting a backward glance towards his worried friends.

As he grabbed a fistful of the floo powder from the bucket by the side of the fireplace and chanted, 'Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place', he saw his friends staring towards him with different looks in their eyes. While Ron looked honestly worried, Hermione was eyeing him with a calculative gaze. Ginny had an amused smile playing on her lips. Neville too shared Ron's expressions but he did look like he understood something where as Luna was waving back at him mouthing something Harry perceived as, 'Good Luck'. He shrugged and smiled back at them, as if to say 'don't worry, I know what I'm doing'. He would apologize to them later, he promised himself. But right now he had somewhere to be. He had someone waiting for him back at home. A warm, fluttery feeling enveloped him as the green flames came to life and flooed him home.


	7. Coming Home

Disclaimer: Characters are, of course, owned by J.K. Rowling. I own nothing, but oh yes, I'd so love to borrow Draco indefinitely.

Look at the Chapter's end for notes.

Chapter 7

 **COMING HOME**

I was stumbling, looking in the dark  
With an empty heart.  
But you say you feel the same;  
Could we ever be enough?  
Baby we could be enough!

And it's alright,  
Calling out for somebody to hold tonight.  
When you're lost, I'll find the way,  
I'll be your light.  
You'll never feel like you're alone,

I'll make this feel like home.

 **Home** by One Direction

"Home?" Ron repeated the word incredulously for the fifth time in the past minute, every time sounding more and more frantic.

"Since when does Harry call any place other than Hogwarts home?" Neville pried, ignoring Ron's agog expressions and sheer inability to form coherent sentences at the moment.

"He never does. At least he's never done before." Ginny reciprocated, the sides of her mouth still quirked up, forming a ghost of smile on her lips. Both Ron and Neville looked at her intently, clearly waiting to pry more scoop out of her mouth as she pursed her lips into a thin line, becoming well aware of her bewildered surroundings. ' _Well if you want to seem subtle, you must actually hold a rigorous check on your barmy expressions,'_ Her conscience chirped inside her head. She ignored the 'ever-so-nosey-yet-alarmingly-accurate' inner lady inside her mind and sipped form her near empty butterbeer mug. Ron groaned at her in frustration. And she shot him an amused glare, quirking up her eyebrows when the ginger shoved two fingers in front of her face.

"Don't worry Ron. I'm sure even Harry doesn't know what he's doing these days." Luna lilted in her dreamy voice. "It's the nargles in his head that's making him go giddy. Nargles, funny creatures they are, I tell you. There have been theories about them stating that these invisible little fluffy fellows can make people – "

Luna continued her little revelatory talk, earning three pairs of perked-up ears intently listening to her. But Hermione was far from grasping any of the words coming out from her blonde-haired friend's mouth. Her eyes were still trained on the fireplace Harry had just flooed from and something about the whole abrupt leaving and the 'home-calling' part hadn't fitted properly in her otherwise clear head. There was something going on. Something she had no idea about.

Hermione, for once, had never liked puzzles. And whatever Harry was up to these days under the influence of the 'clearly invisible Nargles' (if she put it in Luna's words that is) was nothing more but a hippogriff sized puzzle to her. She did have a theory of her own though. A theory she had conjured from watching all of Harry's recent actions raptly and a theory she hoped was _just a_ _theory_ and not the truth because she was hell bent sure it lead Harry covertly towards the one person he shouldn't be heading to; Draco Malfoy.

The thoughts had started plagiarizing her brain ever since Malfoy had set his foot in the burrow the very first time and Harry had been too stunned to react that he'd spent nearly a light year gazing at the blonde, unclear emotions etched upon his face. And then it'd just been the minor curious looks that she had casted on her best friend in the past few days that had lead her to the final conclusion of her vague hypothesis; Harry James Potter was somehow very _very_ attracted to his arch-nemesis and he was utterly oblivious of it himself. However the puzzle that swayed in her mind wasn't about what she had concluded, rather it was about what Harry was upto with all of this. He'd been acting strange, certainly. And Hermione could bet a hundred galleons without even batting an eyelash and without even the fear of losing a knut, that Harry was still oblivious of his attractions towards Malfoy. Yet he was somehow trading that path steadily, without even paying any heed towards the stop signs flashing on his way. Hence what wicked plans were brewing their ways inside Harry's head was what was baffling her to no extents.

Firstly, accepting Malfoy to stay with him, it was something she would have sworn Harry would never agree to. But he had, albeit grudgingly. It wasn't like she didn't consent to the idea of Malfoy sharing a household where he'd be safe from the ministry and other loose Death Eaters, but it was the fact that Harry had agreed to accept Malfoy into his family after only mild persuasion that left her fazed. She'd thought Harry would throw a major fit, rile out his anger at the blonde and act like a grumpy child for days when Sirius or Remus would try to confront him about the matter. But no, of course he had thrown a fit (of a very minuscule intensity, if she'd be honest) and then he'd agreed. He'd agreed to share a roof with Malfoy. That unquestionably had been a major step from Harry's perspective towards whatever pact he was making with Malfoy.

And then he'd acted rather weirdly with Malfoy around. He'd boiled with anger when Malfoy had crashed into their room the other night and sneered down at them but that was just what was to be expected from Malfoy. Nothing out of the blue. But what Harry had done after Malfoy had retreated back was surely unforeseen. He'd bolted behind Malfoy with his anger fuming, making him look almost predatory. And Hermione was sure that'd have ended in at least one hexed body. But surprisingly ( or rather unsurprisingly ) enough, it hadn't. A few minutes later, when Harry had returned, though she had acted as if she was fast asleep tugged in Ron's bed, she wasn't. She had planned on staying awake until Harry had returned, in case he'd need help in putting off the hexes Malfoy would've thrown at him. But what image had met her eyes had been entirely different; unexpected too. Harry hadn't been angry anymore. He had been in deep thought. His face had been contorted as if in confusion, his brows knitted together, worry lines lacing his forehead and his body shaking as if in fear. She'd never seen him so unnerved before. Not even when he'd willingly walked into the forbidden forest to offer himself as the brave and courageous sacrifice lamb to Voldemort. Harry had looked terrified. And Hermione had known something had happened between the two boys at that very moment. She had tried picturing every possibility as to what'd have happened back in Draco's room that had Harry so nerve-wrecked but it had all been in vain. And when Harry had propelled back on to his bed sighing, she'd swore to herself she'd soon find out what was going on in his head. ' _She had to know and she would,_ ' She had promised herself before drifting to sleep draped in her fiancée's arms.

And the most frustrating part of that stupid puzzle was that she had no idea what was going on in Malfoy's manipulative mind the entire time. Of course she had kept a hawk eye on him after noticing her best friend's behavior towards him. She had noted the way Malfoy had stopped sneering down at Harry. How he'd refrained from insulting her and Ron and Ron's family the entire time he'd lived with them. How he'd conjured the calm and collected attitude ever since he had returned to the wizarding world. Also it hadn't slipped her notice the way he'd look at Harry for minutes altogether when he was sure nobody was watching. There had been something in the way his eyes would regard Harry that made her think that maybe _just maybe_ Malfoy felt the same for Harry. But then again she couldn't be entirely sure. This was Malfoy, and he'd left no stone unturned in making all their lives as miserable as he could back at Hogwarts. Though he had even helped them during the war, at the manor, she still didn't fully trust him. Not with Harry involved in the situation. Certainly not.

"Mione." Ron bellowed for the third time, hovering too near her ears this time to make her jump in her seat.

"Merlin Ronald. What?" Hermione snapped at her boyfriend, frantically trying to ease her deafened eardrums.

"You spaced out." Ron shrugged.

"You okay 'mione?" Ginny asked, looking concerned and glaring daggers at the same time towards her nitwit brother.

"Yes Gin. I'm fine. I was just. . thinking, that's it."

"Thinking about what?" Ginny inquired.

"It's. it's just that. I- I don't know. Maybe what Luna said. About Harry and Malfoy, I do think they're getting along rather well and that might be a star–"

"Merlin the mother of seven bastard elfs Mione!" Ron shrieked. "You don't really think Harry has a thing for that foul ferret now, do you?"

"No Ron. I didn't say that. Well, not yet. It's just that their equations are changing with the time. Honestly, don't you see? They no longer fight or brawl like enemies. They get along by putting up civil conversations and agree to each other's prospects. That certainly seems like an end of the rivalry to me." Hermione remarked. "And it seems like a start of something new, something beautiful." She added in a hushed tone.

"Sure it does." Ginny acknowledged. "Besides they stay together now. It's supposed to break that veil of enmity between them. And Merlin knows how much I want to see Harry happy! If Draco is what it takes to see a genuine smile on his face I'd gladly accept that blonde prat in a heartbeat" She purred happily and Luna hummed in agreement. Ron grunted at his sister's words once again.

"Malfoy is a prat but he certainly isn't a bad person, Ron." Neville interjected, looking at Ron's glum face.

"Oh Bollocks, Nev not you too mate." Ron whined. _Why was everyone so determined to seek that Ferret's redemption today?_

"No mate, I've seen him in the past two years and I must say he's trying to change. I'm not sure how much he has accomplished in it but he sure seems to be trying hard. When Harry and you guys were hunting down the horcruxes, Hogwarts had been doomed. Snape being the headmaster and the Death Eaters taking over the teaching staff, it was horrible. And among all that mess Malfoy was the only Slytherin to have the guts stand up to his own people. He had once saved me from getting punished by one of the Death Eaters teaching at the school when I had refused to use one of the first year student as an experiment animal for my potions. And he had hexed a Death Eater when he had tried to broach on Pansy Parkinson's dignity in one of the class. He had also stood up to the Carrows when they made teaching of the unforgivable curses compulsory for all years. Rumors say that he was crucioed by his father umpteenth times for defying Voldemort's followers like that." Neville whispered.

"He was crucioed by his own father?" Ron gasped. This absolutely wasn't something he'd like to hear happen to any human being, not even to his greatest enemy. There was a reason those curses were called Unforgivable. He shuddered at the mental image his mind provided him of Lucius Malfoy pointing his wand at his only son and whispering the curse with a disgusting expression resting on his face.

The air around their table thrummed with tension and distress. Nobody spoke for a very long time. It seemed as if each one of them was trying to wrap their mind around the fact that they still hadn't fully grown out of the horrors of the war, even if it was over. They all had their own demons to fight and suddenly Draco Malfoy didn't seem like an 'enemy from the other side to them', he seemed like a warrior of his own wars just like they all were. Forthwith, Draco Malfoy didn't feel like their old-school rival but just another casualty of the war who had been marred by nobody else but his own Father and a madman.

"I hope Harry finds what he's looking for." Luna mumbled in a very soft voice, as if the glum feeling dreaded to take over her dreamy reverie.

"And I hope Malfoy doesn't act like the infamous git he's known to be and gives Harry everything he deserves." Ron sighed, clearly feeling the guilt of his own words uncork within him. He'd been an idiot. He'd never tried to see Malfoy in any other light than the outright prat he'd been during their school times. He'd never really pondered about the reasons why Malfoy was being that way in the first place. He'd never really thought about why Malfoy had chosen the path of following a lunatic when he had never been one to follow anyone.

Hermione placed her hand on her boyfriend's arm, squeezing it gently and smiling towards him whole-heartedly. _Finally he did understand it in the end._

"Oh Merlin, I'll need another firewhiskey to gulp all these epiphanies down my throat." Ron chuckled, once the tensed atmosphere around their table had settled down.

"Me too, mate. Me too." Neville joined in.

* * *

When Harry flooed _home_ that evening, all he had looked forward to was spending a good evening with his 'friendly enemy' and watch some silly movie on the telly with him and have a decent dinner later that night and spend some time with his God father and Moony all the while teasing the other boy and having playful fights with him like they had earlier that day. But what met his eyes as soon as he stepped out of the fireplace at Grimmauld Place left him aghast. On the couch in front of him were seated his two old professors with their backs turned towards him while his God father had been seated in the armchair beside the couch, Remus standing beside him, his hand placed firmly on Sirius's shoulder and they both looked strained. If that view had sent a small hint of fear in his system, what he saw next had him shook. Draco had been sitting on to the floor by the huge umbrella stand, his legs drawn up to his chest, head bowed down between his knees and one arm hugging his bent legs close to his chest. Severus Snape was sitting beside the boy on to the floor upon his knees, his black robes pooling onto the floor behind him. He was whispering something that Harry couldn't make out clearly, and his hands held on to Draco's left forearm that was bleeding. _Bleeding._ _Bleeding?_ Harry's eyes widened at the sight of the blood gushing out from the pale forearm where it had been sliced open; the dark mark that marred that otherwise beautiful pale skin dissected into two halves and a stream of crimson red fluid flowing down steadily from that gash.

"Malfoy." Harry dashed towards where Draco was slumped against the wall, ignoring the five pairs of eyes that followed behind him. _Draco was bleeding. Bleeding._ His mind was continually voicing out that word and he felt sick even at the silent sounds of it.

Draco jerked up his head at the sudden familiar voice that boomed through the whole room, voicing out his name. _Harry._ Harry had rushed to his side now and was looking frantically between his face and his bleeding hand, as if trying hard to decipher what had happened. He flinched as he saw the Dark Mark up so close on Draco's forearm for the very first time ever since the war. He knew there was no reason for him to blanch at the site of that hideous imprint but he still did. Until now he had never thought anything along the lines of Draco being a former Death Eater and Voldemort's follower; he had left those thoughts way behind when he had agreed to let Draco stay with his family. He had accepted Draco as nothing else but his school time rival that he got into brawls with for reasons as silly as irritating each other and basking into victory as one of them suffered with embarrassment and at times, detentions.

And even Draco had never broached on that particular matter and had been careful all the time to hide that hideous impression on his forearm from everyone; wearing only full sleeved clothes whenever he'd been around any mere human being. He had never let that impression of his downfall show to anybody until now; especially not to Harry. Well but now, Draco assumed, the damage had been done. The Mark stood revealed on his pale skin and Harry sat there mere inches away from him, regarding it with blank expressions on his face. And Draco felt panic rise in his gut. For once he wished he could see what was going through Harry's head right about now.

A painfully long second later, Harry let out his breath. He never knew he had been holding it ever since he saw the mark itched on Draco's skin. And slowly yet carefully he slid down closer towards Draco and took his bleeding hand into his own from Snape's hold, earning a half-hearted glare from the Professor and a shocked gasp from Draco. _These bolts of lightning every time their skins touched,_ Harry shook his head to clear those thoughts from his mind and focus on the more important task at hand. He looked up from the wound and for a split second his eyes met Draco's and everything else seemed to have blurred into the background. The sudden motion with which Snape had collected his body from the floor to stand upright beside them and the four pairs of footsteps that had made their way towards them by now, stopping right beside where Snape stood, nothing had mattered. All that mattered was the slow growing tingles of lightning that flared through their bodies at their contact and the way their skins felt so oddly sensitive beneath their touch. And as the grey bore into emerald, a silent agreement made it's way between them. Harry tore his eyes from those enticing Grey orbs almost painfully as if looking away from them actually hurt and pulled out his wand from his back pocket. He trained the tip of his wand at the wound and looked up once again, to make sure if he should go on and Draco as if understanding his dilemma nodded in response. "Vulnera Sanentur" Harry whispered softly. The wound, immediately obeying the spell, started to heal. Two more chants later, the wound finally closed on itself, leaving behind no scars on the soft skin beneath it other than the ugly mark; still very much in intact in it's and very much visible.

Harry pulled his wand off and stared at the Dark mark for a moment longer before releasing Draco's hand from his grip. Almost all of the sudden, his body felt numb as the jolts of lightning disappeared with the lost contact; he felt incomplete. And as if Draco had sensed the same thing, he looked up at Harry, the same look of wonder on his face.

"Harry, my boy." Dumbledore's calm voice made Harry jump in surprise from his place beside Draco on the floor. He looked up behind him to see his old headmaster looking down fondly at him and Draco; his blue eyes glinting with happiness.

"Professor," Harry acknowledged. "I- I am very sorry. I didn't – I mean I was so – I'm sorry sir."

"No my dear boy, don't worry. There's absolutely no need for you to apologize Harry. What you did was very gallant of you; reaching out to help Mr. Malfoy from his distress. I admire your courage Harry." Dumledore said, once again glancing down from his half-moon frame towards Harry and Draco and smiling fondly at their closeness. A faint blush crept up on Harry's face and neck as he saw the way his headmaster was regarding their current situation.

"Albus, I think it's time that Harry should know." Mcgonagall interjected, making her way from behind Snape towards where Dumbledore stood.

"Ah, yes. I reckon it's time." Dumbledore asserted. Making his way back towards the couch, he continued, "Harry I know this may come out as a bit of nasty shock to you," Harry snorted at that. _Honestly when has his life been anything but nasty shocks._ "But I wish for you to continue your education at Hogwarts for the final year. And so must Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore announced.

"I have to do what?" Harry asked absurdly and Draco snorted from beside him. Harry resisted his powerful urge to retort back to the blonde for taking that piece of information in a comical way and continued to stare wide-eyed at the old headmaster.

"Yes Harry. It's imperative that you return. And so is it for Mr. Malfoy. I know you have made up your mind to join the ministry as an auror under Kingsley's guidance but I consider it is rather blatant for both you, young men, to finish your education first. It wouldn't be prudent of you to leave your studies mid-way nor would it do any better for your future." Dumbledore regarded Harry with a calm voice once again and before Harry could mouth another stupid question, he continued, "As for Mr. Malfoy, we've already talked to him about this before your arrival Harry and you'd be surprised to know he has already agreed." Harry couldn't believe his ears. He turned to face Draco with an appalled look on his face. _Did he really?_ Draco nodded towards him in an silent agreement. _Oh Merlin._

"But –he can't." Harry bellowed. "He can't go out there. He cannot be seen in the wizarding world or else the ministry will –they'll," He couldn't form the rest of the sentence without getting those mental images of what the ministry would do to Draco if they found out he was still alive. _What the fuck is wrong with Dumbledore? Doesn't he know that Draco cannot be seen anywhere in the wizarding world or it'd cost him his life? Doesn't he understand the whole prospect of Draco staying at Grimmauld place for his own safety and how can he go on to continue his education at Hogwarts where he can be easily spotted and killed by the ministry aurors? And what the fuck is wrong with Draco himself? How could he agree to go back to school when he knows for sure what would happen to him once he sets his foot anywhere outside in their world._

"Harry, listen to me." Sirius's voice broke him from his reverie and he turned his gaze towards his Godfather. _Surely his Godfather would understand._ "Harry, I know what you must be thinking but trust me this is for Draco's own good,"

"Draco's own good?" Harry yelled incredulously. _They've all gone bonkers. "_ How is it going to be for his own good when he wouldn't even have the time to decide between what's good or bad once the ministry comes to find out he's still alive?" He was practically hyperventilating now but he didn't care. He wouldn't let Draco walk into a death trap just like that. If that bastard had wanted to have a death wish he shouldn't have come back into Harry's life again in the first place. And now that he'd been back, Harry wasn't going to let go of him so easily without putting up a fight. Definitely not.

"The ministry has been informed already Mr. Potter. As soon as Mr. Malfoy had agreed, that is." Snape's cold voice hit his senses in a revolting manner. _The ministry has been informed already. Draco had agreed. He had consented to inform the ministry that he was still alive. He was walking into his death trap head-on._ When Harry looked back at Draco once more, he found him already staring back at him. And for the second time that evening, Grey clashed with emerald and a shiver ran down Harry's spine. Draco was staring right at him, his eyes trained on his; as if seeking out what emotions Harry had been feeling at the moment, as if searching for his consent towards his agreement; which Harry was determined not to provide. So, he just let his gaze turn cold towards Draco and snapped back towards his Godfather. "So then we let him walk head-on towards his confirm death," his breath hitched at the very word, _death,_ "then I don't understand how exactly does Hogwarts plans to educate him further?" He voiced icily, making sure every word was laced with as much bitterness as he could muster.

"Harry, this isn't the way you think it is." Remus finally broke his silence as he made his way towards Harry and stood beside him. "The ministry has agreed to hold up a trial for Draco. The Wizengamont has agreed to hear out Draco's side of story before deciding anything." He reassured the boy beside him, putting a firm arm around his shoulder.

"Hold up a trial. Wow." Harry snapped. He was fuming with all the pent up anger now. He stood up abruptly, jeaking off Remus's hand from his shoulder and turned to face straight towards the three professors, his face grown red with anger and his green eyes blazing. "The Wizengamont will hold up a trial to do what precisely? Publically defame him and his family name once more only to throw him into Azkaban the second he finishes his testimony? Or worse, kill him just like they killed the other Death Eaters?" He was all but shouting on the top of his lungs, not giving a damn about his old headmaster or the two professors standing beside him, looking all gob smacked.

"Harry, NO." Sirius yelled back at him. "You don't understand! This is for his own good. He has to face the world someday. He cannot be staying into hiding for the rest of his life for Merlin's sake Harry! The boy's got to get on with his life at some point and keeping him tucked in here for an entire lifetime doesn't even sound pragmatic." Sirius had never thought he'd be using such a tone on his own Godson but for some unexplainable reason he considered it was the only way Harry would listen to anybody at the moment. _He's James's son after all. Defiance runs in his veins._ His face softened when he saw Harry's face fall but he continued, in a gentle voice, "Harry, I know this seems hard to take in. But there's a way out of it. Trust me."

Harry had never imagined his Godfather would use such a harsh tone on him, ever; atleast not when he was almost an adult himself. Listening him yell like tha reminded him of his uncle, Vernon Dursley and he flinched at the memory. But then after a moment, Sirius's voice grew softer, gentler when he spoke again; he might have noticed Harry's reaction to his previous tone of voice. And what he said after that made Harry look up at him in almost an instant. A shimmer of Hope beginning to rise in his eyes. _A way out of it. A way to save Draco._

"A way out of it?" Harry voiced his thoughts, now looking more keenly towards his Godfather and the three professors standing in front of him.

Seeing Harry's sudden change in demeanor, Sirius let out a relieved sigh. _The James's son tactic finally worked._ He mentally congratulated himself and turned towards Draco instead. All this while Draco had been still slumped against the wall, never muttering a single word; silently watching the whole ruckus and eyeing Harry with mixed expressions on his otherwise calm face whenever Harry said something.

"Draco," Sirius said calmly.

Harry had nearly forgotten about Draco's presence in the room among all the fuss. His anger suddenly melted away when he heard a faint , "Potter," from behind him. He turned in his place, facing the blonde and in a flash he felt all his anger and frustration sweep away. _He's still here. He's still alive and human. He's still got a chance. He's not going to die. I won't let him. He is not supposed to die or rot in Azkaban; not after all this time._ Somehow within the last two days Harry had come to a certain realization; The Draco Malfoy that had returned after the war wasn't the same person he had been before the war. He had changed. And the boy standing in front of him at this very moment wasn't the shrewd, biting and caustic Malfoy he had been all those years. This boy had a strikingly contrast personality; with slumped shoulders, massive eye bags around his otherwise beautiful face, trembling hands and a dull gaze adorning his previously glistening icy grey eyes; he was nearly as damaged human as Draco Malfoy could be. And Harry had mentally swore to himself that he'd do anything in his power to save this broken soul.

"Potter," Draco spoke again, this time with more ferocity to catch Harry's attention. When he was sure Harry had recurred from his musings, he continued, "Look Potter, as much as I'd appreciate your concern about my well-being, I'm sorry to say that I don't want it. I'm not a victim here so for Merlin's sake stop treating me like one. And get your thick head bundled in a rug because I'll need it intact for when you'll have to testify in my trial." He let out a caught breath and looked at Harry. Harry was staring right back at him, wide-eyed. A smug grin started to form on his face seeing Harry so astounded. _Finally the dimwit did understand._

"Tes –Testify for your trial?" Harry spluttered. _So this is what it is all about. He has to testify on behalf of Draco in front of the Wizengamont in order to save him. Of course! The Wizengamont might never believe Draco to be innocent but it would never question the beliefs of 'The savior of the Wizarding World' even if they lay on the side of an ex-death eater. That way the Wizengamont will have to oblige to Harry and set Draco free from all the charges. And Draco will have a free life after that. He could easily go back to Hogwarts to complete his education, and start up a new life after that with the new found notion of 'Not Guilty' flaunting upon his character. It was all planned. Of fucking Course!_

"Yes, Potter. That is if 'The Golden Boy' sees it fitting." Draco replied with a trace of mock in his tone.

"Of –Ofcourse. I mean –Yes . Yes I see it fit – I will." Harry finally spoke. He would certainly testify for Draco if that meant the blonde would be free. Definitely he would. Draco's face broke into a shy grin as Harry voiced his agreement. But Of course the irony of their situation hadn't gone unnoticed to him; Harry Potter was there to save his day, yet again. If he'd be honest to himself, he had lost the count of times when Harry had saved him from perils like this and he was overwhelmed to see that after all the vicious things he had said or done to Harry, he was still very much willing to save Draco. _Always the Hero._

"Always the brave Gryffindor Hero, aren't we Potter?" Draco remarked, still grinning at Harry.

"Shut up Malfoy," Harry retorted with his own grin spreading across his face. "I'm Sorry Professor." Harry mumbled slowly, turning towards his Professors; his _ignored all this while_ Professors. "I will most certainly bespeak on behalf of Malfoy." He said with reassurance. Dumbledore's eyes once again sparkled with delight as he nodded in agreement. Mcgonagall who had been standing there the whole time, quietly watching the scene unfold in front of her, also smiled back at Harry in a comforting way. And Harry could swear he saw Snape's lips curl a little into a small smile but the professor soon recovered to his sneering façade.

"I knew you'd understand Harry." Remus acknowledged Harry with a tight hug while Sirius beemed with a satisfied smile and patted Harry's head. And Harry, for once, let him dishevel his already messy hair without a care, reveling in the overwhelming feelings that had erupted in his own gut. _He was going to save Draco._

Though, their small family union lasted only for a while when somebody behind them scoffed. Harry broke from the embrace and faced the other occupants of the room. Apparently it was Snape that had disturbed their display of affection, Harry noted. Snape cleared his throat once more before speaking and began, "Now if you may Mr. Potter," he gestured towards a letter in his hand and continued, " Hogwarts would like to know if it's Saviour," Snape curled his lips in distaste at the word to give it a dramatic effect, "would be returning to complete his education or not. Though, I personally find it completely absurd for the 'boy who lived twice' to be in need for anymore guidance from mere wizards like us, I must assure you it would be worthwhile. " And with that Snape sneered down at Harry.

Now a year ago, if Snape had said this to him, Harry would have sworn Snape had meant it in a completely spiteful manner. But now, Harry knew it was just a mask that the Professor adorned and he never meant it in any other way than affectionately. Harry's relationship with Snape had undergone a drastic change in the past one year, during the war, when he had found out that Snape had been on his side from the very beginning and he had only done those horrible things that he did to gain Voldemort's trust and spy for the Order. Yes, Harry had been terribly mad at him when he had killed Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower in his sixth year after Draco had failed to complete the task and he had mourned for his Headmaster's death along with the whole school. But it was only until he had been confronted by a very much alive Dumbledore a week later that he had learned Snape's hidden secrets and the headmaster and potion professor's collective plan to show the wizarding world that Dumbledore had been killed so that Voldemort would be satisfied with Snape's alliance in his Death eaters group and let out his most hidden plans to him. Dumbledore had been killed, no doubt, but it was only one half of the story. What the wizarding world didn't know was how Snape and Mcgonagall had later altered the timeline with the help of a time-turner and saved Dumbledore and kept him hidden from everyone so that Voldemort would grow blind in his new found powers and thus when the Elder wand would defy him and he'd be in his most vulnerable state, Harry could strike at him and kill him. Their plan had worked at the end because Voldemort had done exactly what was expected from him and that had led to his downfall. And Harry had been so moved by Snape's loyalties towards Dumbledore and himself (not to mention the strange feeling he got as Snape being a kind of Father-figure for him after he found out about the professor's feelings for his late mother) that he had nearly hugged that man. (also not to mention that _that_ was the only moment when Snape had hugged him right back, with an ferocity so intense that Harry had felt as if it wasn't just Snape's arms around him but also his mother's too.) Hence, whatever Snape had spoken to him after that, in any way, was taken as an affectionate way by Harry because he knew that the man could never display care and comfort like other humans did. But Harry knew he cared. He had _Always_ cared.

For a moment, Harry hesitated. _Did he want to return to the place where he had seen so much of destruction and war casualties and deaths? Did he want to bear the weight of his title and go on with it? Did he want to go back to the world that had given him so much but taken away as much in return?_ He turned to look at Draco for another fleeting moment, to see what he might be thinking about it when he saw Draco smiling fondly at him. A genuine, heart-felt smile that reflected in his beautiful eyes, the tug of his mouth reaching his ears as he nodded towards Harry; and for a microsecond, Harry's heart skipped a beat. A sudden rush of adrenaline pumped in his system and Harry was sure about his choice this time. _Very sure_. None of the above fears stood a chance when he had now seen that angelic look on the blonde's face; the look he (and he alone) had won _. Draco had lowered his defenses and walls around his heart and was inviting Harry in his space and Harry was determined to grab that opportunity._

"Yes, Professor. I certainly would be returning." Harry replied, accepting the letter with a snobbish grin plagiarizing his face.

* * *

Later that night, Harry found himself standing in front of Draco's bedroom door. After the scene at the hall, Harry had been uncharacteristically cheerful. He had spent a good amount of time with Dumbledore and Snape while his Godfather, Remus and Draco had taken up the task of irritating Mcgonagall beyond her wits. After the Professors had departed, they had satisfied their grumpy stomachs with a Chinese takeaway dinner and subsequently parted to their respective bedrooms. Harry's mind had been nudging him constantly to go and talk to Draco as he laid on his bed, but he had gained an upper hand to it and refused to do so. Although, an hour later, sleep had evaded his body as an unanswered question rung in his brain. So, here he was, standing in front of Draco's bedroom door. As he was contemplating the ways he could broach the talk with him, the bedroom door suddenly cracked open and Draco stood there in front of him, wearing only his black silken pajama bottoms. Harry's breath hitched as he took in the half-naked blonde's appearance; the way Draco's platinum blonde hair took a striking contrast against his pajama bottoms, the way his broad shoulders stood stiffened, the way his toned arms, though lean, looked muscular enough without any kinds of fabric hiding them, the way his chest heaved with every breath, pale, smooth, scarred. . . _Scarred._ His eyes widened with horror as his gaze traced the scars marring Draco's pale chest. They looked surprisingly familiar and a faint feeling of nausea overtook his senses. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out and he stood there gaping at those slash marks like he had been petrified.

"What are you gaping at Potter?" Draco drawled, finally breaking Harry from whatever spell he was under.

"Are –Are those?" Harry gulped. He couldn't even muster the courage to complete his question.

"Yes, they are." Draco answered nonchalantly.

"Oh." was all Harry could say. _They were his scars. His doings. He had marked Draco when he had slashed open his chest by that stupid Sectumsempra._

"Though Snape healed the cuts, he couldn't heal the scars. They would stay forever no matter what I do." Draco whispered softly.

"I'm sorry." Harry mumbled. Draco let out an indignant laugh, "Honestly Potter, I've gotten over the fact that you have infinitely ruined by beautiful body by your daft actions."

Harry looked up at Draco, his wide-eyes growing more wider (if that was even humanly possible). "You have?" he blurted.

"Yes I have. I know you didn't mean to injure me back then. I am sure you didn't even know what the spell does until you used it on me. So, I cannot blame you." Draco sighed. Harry didn't know what to say next so instead he just nodded and stood glued to his spot.

"So for what do I owe this pleasure of the famous Harry Potter standing outside my bedroom door?" Draco asked again as he realized Harry wasn't budging from his place.

"Er, I wanted to ask you something." Harry answered, peering behind Draco into his room. Draco, understanding Harry's motive stepped aside and gestured Harry to enter inside his room.

A strong scent that smelled exactly like Draco filled Harry's nostrils as he stepped inside the room and stood beside the study table, unsure if he would be welcomed to sit on the bed instead. Draco followed Harry inside the room and took a seat on the side of the bed, motioning Harry to do the same. As Harry sat beside him on the edge of the bed comfortably, facing him, Draco raised an eyebrow to him in question. Harry understood the action and shifted in his seat, sucked up a deep breath and took Draco's left hand in his. ' _Here we go,'_ a faint voice inside him mumbled as the familiar jolts of tingling lightings shook his entire body at the contact. Draco looked up at him from beneath his blonde fringes as similar jolts ran down his spine. Harry turned scarlet at the questioning look in Draco's eyes but didn't let go of his hand. To be honest, he was enjoying these feelings and he yearned for more.

"How did that happen?" Harry questioned, gently rubbing his thumb over the Dark mark on Draco's forearm.

Draco stiffened at the question. He had been caught off guard while he was musing over the strange tickling feels inside his skin. Harry was questioning him about the mark. What was he supposed to say? "Voldemort gave that to me." He replied, unsure if Harry would be pleased with the knowledge although he knew that Harry knew that already. So why was he asking him about it after all?

"I didn't mean the mark." Harry snorted. "How did you happen to cut yourself earlier in the evening?"

"Oh." Draco relaxed. "Seems like you're not the only one who acts impulsively Potter." He remarked teasingly. When Harry's face contorted in confusion, he continued, "When Dumbledore first told me about the trial, I was horrified. He didn't let out about how they were planning to make you my witness and so I feared that there was no way I would be forgiven by the Wizengamont. Hence I acted out. I thought if this stupid mark wouldn't be branding my forearm, I might be saved from Azkaban."

"So you sliced your arm open?" Harry chocked out. "Are you insane Malfoy? What the bloody hell were you thinking?" He stood up abruptly, jerking Draco's arm away. "You call me a daft idiot where in you're the one who really is daft."

Draco laughed mirthlessly, "Careful, Potter. If I didn't know you, I'd think you have started to care."

"Bloody well yes I do. I do care Malfoy," Harry hissed. "Unlike you, I care about the people around me and I fucking have started caring about you, you insolate arse."

"Well why do you?" Draco raised his voice just as much as Harry's and stared directly into Harry's eyes. "Why would the Great Harry Potter care about a Death Eater scum like me?" he grunted.

"The war is over, Malfoy. And you have very well shown where your loyalties laid during it. You're not a Death Eater like your Father," Draco flinched at the mention of his father and broke the stare; looking down at his own hands in his lap but Harry didn't care. He had to get that shit out of Draco's head anyhow. "You're not your Father, Malfoy. You aren't cruel and horrible like him. You're not a murderer. You had no choice. You're just like the rest of us. You did everything just to save your family, like we did, like everyone did. And in the end you too have suffered the loss." Harry stated calmly. He sat down on the bed once again and slid close to the other boy until their sides were touching, spreading those trickles of touch once again. And Draco looked up from his hands to Harry, a glimmer of fire burning in Harry's eyes met his gaze and something inside his stomach flipped, in a pleasurable way. His emotions were a wreck at the moment but somehow they didn't feel as haunting as they always felt with Harry by his side. Pools of tears filled his eyes, threatening to fall as Harry once again reached out and took his marked forearm in his hands, tracing his warm fingers over the cold imprint. Draco averted his gaze from Harry's eyes to their hands in contact. "You're no assassin, Draco." Harry breathed out.

And then the strangest thing happened; Draco turned his hand and laced his fingers with Harry's, tears slipping down his cheeks slowly. He didn't look at the raven haired boy, but Harry didn't need Draco to look at him. So Harry rubbed gentle circles on the back of Draco's hand with his thumb and allowed silence to fall over the two of them; but this silence wasn't awkward, it wasn't uncomfortable. Instead, it was the perfect thing they needed.

"Thank you, Harry." Draco whispered, his voice barely audible. Harry could only hum in response and he gave him a reassuring squeeze.

And Harry realized that holding Draco Malfoy's hand felt exactly like coming home.

* * *

A/N : Hiya readers, I hope you're all enjoying the weekend. Again, I'm heartily sorry for the late update but being in Med school has it's own woes. I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, as I had stated in the last chapter, about the big surprise, it has been disclosed in this one. Yes, Harry and Draco are going to attend their Eighth year at Hogwarts! Look forward to many common dormitory, dinners at great halls, potions with Snape and exhilarating quidditch matches moments.

Don't forget to leave a review to this chapter if you liked it. I'd really be happy to get more reviews about this story as this is my first attempt at writing and I'm desperately looking for motivation. Your reviews would help a lot, so pretty please, do review. It might help me to update soon too.

Much love,

Dranne.


	8. There for you

Disclaimer: Characters are, of course, owned by J.K. Rowling. I own nothing, but oh yes, I'd so love to borrow Draco indefinitely.

Look at the Chapter's end for notes.

 **Chapter 8**

 **THERE FOR YOU**

Take me back to the basics and the simple life  
Tell me all of the things that make you feel at ease  
Your touch, my comfort, and my lullaby  
Holdin' on tight and sleepin' at night.

 **\- EASE** by Troye Sivan

Two weeks later, 20th August 1998

"Stop that, Draco." Harry chided, not looking up from his copy of The Daily Prophet. He was getting mildly irritated by the way Draco was frowning and pacing in the hall like his arse was on fire. Harry knew that the boy was worried sick, after all today was the day when the trial was to be held and if anything, he himself was scared too. But pacing and stomping down the house wouldn't do any good, he knew and that was precisely what he wanted Draco to understand too.

"Stop what?" Draco snapped, still very much trotting and stomping his bare feet on the wooden floor.

 _Jerk._ "Stop with all that trooping and stomping and give your baby feet a little break. Pretty sure they're sore. And so is the poor floor." Harry asserted, still not sparing a glance at the sneering blonde as he ran his eyes on the headlines of the day.

 _Double Jerk. "_ I do not have 'baby feet' and I will do whatever I may please, Mother." Draco huffed back but eventually stopped pacing and flopped down on the couch beside Harry. He snatched the Prophet from Harry's hands and gave him his perfect smug look as Harry cried in protest.

"Malfoy, you bloody git. I was reading it." Harry howled, trying his best to plunge on to the blonde and snatch the Prophet from his grasp. Unfortunately so, he was shorter than Draco and that gave Draco full advantage to use his long hands and hold the paper far away above his own head, far far away from Harry's reach. Again he flashed his famous smirk at Harry as Harry let out a humpf and sank down into the couch, away from Draco, sulking.

"Awh Harbear, don't be mad. C'mere" Draco crooned, pulling Harry towards himself.

"Nope." Harry frowned defiantly, folding both his arms across his chest just to show his absolute refusal. "And don't call me that." He provided all the resistance he could to stop his body being gravitated towards the said git, but failed miserably as the fireworks erupted once again under his skin where Draco was pulling him now and that made his head go fuzzy. Draco, once again with his stupid-smug face, pulled at Harry's folded arms and Harry lost. _Sodding brain! Can't even understand one command Harry gave it and why does it always have to rebel like that?_ His equally disobedient body gave in to the blonde's electric touch and let itself be dragged and cradled into Draco's lap.

"That's totally not fair. You cannot use _That_ as a weapon on me, Malfoy." Harry glared at the blonde but his body defied his expressions once again as it relaxed in the touch and let the fireworks from his arms spread all over his being. He always relished the touch of Draco's skin over his. If anything, they calmed his nerves and made his head go a little bleary, sucking all of his worries and fears away. And he knew Draco felt the same. And that was the only reason both the boys always preferred staying close to each other these days. It helped them keep the other calm and sane amidst all the fuss going on about the trials and it's aftermath.

This touching and the need of constant physical contact had developed between them after the night, two weeks ago, when Draco had cried his heart out to Harry and then intertwined their hands into each other's. Although that had been a simple gesture, it had created some sort of connection strings between them that had made them feel attached towards each other. Harry had again slept in Draco's room that night obliging to the blonde's request, their bodies almost at the opposite edges of the bed but their hands still interlaced. Draco never let go of Harry's hand that night and Harry never tried to disengage them, knowing that it somehow made Draco feel safe and calmed his own nerves and silenced his inner demons and nightmares. And after that night, sleeping in each other's room had become a habit. Every night, either Draco would request Harry to stay back in his room for the night or Harry would practically drag Draco into his for the night. (Draco absolutely detested the gryffindorishness of Harry's room although he had been the one to decorate it as such. Whenever Harry would point that out, Draco would glare at the raven and say, "In my defense, I'd like to enlighten your dim-wit brain that I had never imagined I'd have to spend even a fraction of my absolutely slytherin life's second in your humble gryffindorkish abode." So much for just sleeping in one night, Harry had thought.)

So, basically, it was their mutual needs that made them share their personal spaces with each other and neither of them regretted their decision even for a moment. At first what had started as simple hand holding or middling one handed hugs had soon progressed to full body contact bear-hugs to sitting so close to each other that their bodies would practically be pressing at their side to no more sleeping at the opposite ends of the bed to soft, swift kisses on Draco's forehead. Though Draco utterly despised the last part and almost threatened to hex Harry into oblivion every time he as much even tried to bring his hand near Draco's forehead, it was Harry's favorite thing to do. He loved to kiss Draco's fringed forehead and tuck the blonde's smooth, long hair behind his ears whenever they'd fall over his face. Draco thought it made him look like a Damsel in distress and Harry his Knight in shining armor. No wait, his Knight in a dull red oversized pineapple jumper. But Harry always asserted that Draco wasn't a Damsel or even a princess; he was a fucking drama Queen. And after that Draco always enjoyed watching Harry fume with anger while struggling with the Bat-bogey hex inflicted on him by the blonde. It was Draco's sweet revenge; or so he liked to call it. And there was one thing above it all that made them both comfortable with the shared contact; it wasn't sexual at all. It was rather caring and soothing, almost like friendly gestures. _Or so they liked to believe_.

Draco had never in his entire life thought that he'd be friends with one Harry Potter after Harry had rejected his friendship publically in their first year. But things had changed a lot between the two former rivals in the past two weeks, Draco knew that. And if he would be perfectly honest, things had been changing between them ever since he had set his foot into Harry's life again, after the war. He'd seen Harry fight valiantly in the war against Voldemort. He'd seen him die and come back to life and kill the blasted dark lord in front of his own eyes. He'd seen him protect his friends and their families and every person that had belonged to Hogwarts and it was in those moments that he had deeply resented his own haughtiness and arrogance that had lead Harry to deny him his friendship. If he hadn't been so much of a jerk back then when they were eleven and had played his cards differently, it'd have been him and his family that Harry would be protecting and that thought had shook him to the core. But it had been too late to amend his mistakes and within a few minutes, also insignificant, as he had seen his whole family crumple down to lifeless masses. It wasn't a memory Draco wanted to relieve, ever, but he had to let it out of his mind before it'd swell inside him so much that it'd eat him up alive. And who was better a person than Harry 'I'm all ears, coffee mugs and bear hugs' Potter to let on his inside traumas. Hence, that night, two weeks ago, Draco had unfolded the mystery of his survival at the war; all the while holding onto Harry's hand as an anchor to keep himself from drifting too far into the grim.

He had been begging in front of a Death Eater to recognize him as their own when he had heard his father's strangled cry as he was hit with the killing curse. He'd ran to save him but his mother had hauled him from doing so and had dragged him away from the war front, ushering him to flee away with her.

They had been so close to apparating from the scene when suddenly a flash of bright of green had knocked his mother from behind. He'd held her in his lap as she had mumbled to him to run away and hide and then had seen her wither to death. He had then apparated to the Manor with his mother's dead body still clutched in his arms and had buried her in their backyard garden. He'd then hidden himself in the attic at the manor and never came out.

He'd been starving to death and there had been times when he had tried eating his own flesh to quench his hunger. He'd often bitten his lip way too hard so that it'd bleed and he would then suck at his own blood quell his thirst. Often at times he had cursed his entire existence and wished he'd die. He had no reason to live anymore after all. His family was dead, voldemort was dead; there was nobody who would accept him into the wizarding world ever again. It had been in those moments when he'd pick at his own skin and bang his head mercilessly into the walls until he'd pass out from the excruciating pain and exertion. But he couldn't muster up the courage to kill himself; it just felt too much and somewhere in his head he always hoped someone would find him and save him.

He didn't knew how many days had it been since he'd passed out on the blood-stained, muddy floor when he sensed something moving inside his body, inside his blood; magic. Snape had eventually found him, passed out on the attic floor and had healed his wounds. He had then taken him to his own house and nursed him to health. He'd kept him hidden at his house for two days until he was fed enough and looked quite presentable and then informed Dumbledore about him. And to Draco's extreme disbelief, Dumbledore had promised Snape that he would keep his godson safe. He had then convinced Snape to let Draco stay with Harry and his family as it was the safest household there would ever be at the moment. Of course Draco and Snape both had argued their tongues off but Dumbledore had stood firm on his grounds and eventually Draco had to move.

Draco had been skeptical about the whole situation of moving in with Harry until he had stepped into the burrow. And then everything had changed. He knew this was the same person who had been his rival for almost half of his life but there was something in the air between them in that moment that had drawn a strange thread from his heart and hooked it to Harry's. He'd then never been able to look at Harry with fury or hatred instead he always found his insides melting whenever Harry would look at him. He didn't knew what Harry felt towards him now that the war was over and they had no obvious reasons for standing at opposite shores but he prayed that Harry would at least not despise him. _Why did he even want that? Trust Draco, he himself had no bloody idea._ Still he couldn't keep his snarky mouth shut at all the times and lashed out at either Harry or his friends whenever he felt paranoid or frustrated at the entire scenario.

But then Harry had agreed to let him stay with them at Grimmauld Place and he also had seemed to sort of starting to care about Draco's well being. And that was when he had given up on the belief of never befriending the raven-haired boy and extended his hand once again to start a new era of friendship between them and prayed with all the pieces of his heart, that Harry would not refuse him once again. And he was immensely grateful to whichever God was listening to his prayers because Harry had contentedly accepted his offer and was now holding his hand with equal vigor and regard as himself and did it somehow fix all those broken pieces of Draco's heart? Oh yes, it did. It so did.

Harry hadn't felt any different than Draco had felt. He had seen Draco struggling to walk away from the war and failing profoundly. He had seen Draco wincing and flinching when his father had pressured him to recognize Harry at the manor so that he could hand him to the Dark Lord and gain his lost respect and position among the Death Eaters. Harry could have bet on his entire Gringott's vault that Draco had recognized him but he had been shocked beyond his wits when Draco had denied being sure that it was Harry. That was exactly the moment that had eventually lead Harry to have an upper hand in the war and win it. And saving Draco from the fiendfire had been his return gift to the blonde for saving his life at the manor. Though Harry had never been so sure why the blonde had risked his life to save him, his arch nemesis, in the first place and when he had heard that Draco had been killed in the war, all he had felt for the boy was pity and remorse.

That was until Draco had made his godly entrance into Harry's life once again; in all flesh and bones and some entirely baffling feelings. Harry had instantly felt drawn to his undead nemesis and had agreed to let Draco share his household. Though he had been paranoid about the other boy's intentions at first, all his doubts had blown off into thin air when Draco had extended his hand for friendship the second time in past eight years and Harry had never felt happier in so long. He had cheerfully accepted Draco's offer in a heartbeat and he was glad about his decision at the very moment as he now lay content and serene in Draco's lap.

"I can and I will, Potter." Draco smirked and wrapped his arms around Harry's waist, pulling him closer to himself and resting his head on Harry's shoulder; the prophet still crumpled in his hand. Harry sighed and gave in to the moment, gently running his fingers up and down on left Draco's arm.

"It'll be alright." Harry spoke softly after a while.

"Mhm." Draco mumbled and closed his eyes, his hands still gripping onto Harry tight.

* * *

"Ah, scoot a little love bunnies." Sirius's amused voice bought both the boys attention back to their surroundings. They instantly detangled their bodies from each other and while Draco all but glared at Sirius, Harry took his time to turn completely pink. He had no idea what Sirius or Remus thought about his strange relationship with the blonde but hoped they didn't roll down to wrong conclusions. After all, Sirius had been the one to lecture Harry about ending his enmity with Draco and make a truce with the boy, wasn't he?. And now that they had finally made their truce, Harry wished his Godfather would not assume it to be anymore than peaceful friendship. But the main flaw was that Sirius had seen Harry and Draco acting differently ever since they had moved to Grimmauld. He had noticed every single moment between them with such keen interest that there was no way he was looking at their affectionate gestures and shared beds as anything but kinship. And while Remus stayed shut most of the time when it came to their relation, Sirius, true to his personality, never let any chance pass where he could embarrass them for their actions; just like he did moments ago.

Harry knew his Godfather wasn't one to go beating around the bush and let them stay put peacefully. He had accepted the fact that every time he and Draco would so much as look at each other in Sirius's presence, he would not refrain himself from voicing his gay thoughts aloud. And why would he? After all he and Remus shared the same affection. Didn't they? They had been in love with each other ever since their old school days and were now legit a couple living together and taking care of their adopted children. They were in a perfect relationship and Harry knew that Sirius and Remus wanted the same for him. Although they might had not hoped for Harry to turn out as bent as they were and wished that Harry would date some nice Gryffindor girl (or any girl who wasn't in slytherin because Sirius despised that house to no measure and also played kickass Quidditch. Well atleast that point was covered so that's probably why Sirius didn't mind Draco strolling after Harry much?) and have a proper marriage and raise his own progeny; they were all the more excited to find out about his and Draco's relationship (which it wasn't, really.) And why so suddenly did Sirius let go of his religious beliefs about the dark and evil slytherin house aura and approved Draco to be Harry's love interest was beyond Harry's understanding. (Again, definitely just the Quidditch part, he guessed.)

"One, there's no place for your sneaky little self in here. Two, I heartily counter the love part. And three, sod off." Draco groaned when Sirius took a seat next to him, squishing him in between his and Harry's bodies. He whacked Draco on the head with the piece of parchment that he was holding. "Language, kid." Sirius scoffed. Harry snickered.

"Oh, you're one to speak about that, now are you?" Draco hissed, lifting his squished hand from beneath Sirius's ass and flicking a finger at Harry. "After all you've done to me in the past two weeks? Never." He deadpanned at Sirius.

"You started it." Sirius huffed, paying no heed to Draco's futile attempts at releasing himself from the human cage. And Harry was enjoying this little drama far too much to help Draco. _That utter twat._

"Oh no, I didn't." Draco stated defensively. "I just spared us all the hearing disability that would have dawned upon this household if that cacophony had lasted even a single more second. It was a noble deed."

"That isn't cacophony. That is called the 80's Punk rock music." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Pretty sure you wouldn't have heard it with, yanno, your wizarding upbringing and stiff parents? Nevermind you're so boring."

"That's absurd. You're boring, not me!" Draco exclaimed, utterly agitated. "Next time you as much as think about turning the telly channel to Punk rock hullabaloo, I'll charm the muuggle wand invisible." He contended with a wild smirk growing on his face.

"Remote." Harry interrupted, enjoying every moment of the banter. Draco snapped his head towards Harry and fixed him with a glare and an equal angry finger, again. "Fuck off."

"Don't you dare blondie. Or I'll charm all your knickers red this time." Sirius winked and upon seeing the horrified expression on Draco's face, he wriggled his eyebrows devilishly. Harry let out a snort from behind Draco.

"You wouldn't." Draco sneered, now truly angry. He had yet not gotten over the last time his hair had been turned baby pink by Sirius when he had transfigured the telly muggle wand into a sickle and hidden it so that Sirius couldn't find it and would spare them all from the stupid punk rock blast.

"Oh I can, and I will." Sirius grinned evilly voicing Draco's own words from minutes ago as he stood up and with one last wink in Harry's direction, stalked off to his room while leisurely tying his hair into a man bun, leaving behind an utterly shocked slytherin blonde on the couch and a laughing heap of Gryffindor on the floor.

* * *

 **A/N** : OH MY GOD it has been almost five months since I last updated this story and I'm really, really sorry guys. I swear I wasn't gonna leave it like that and I HAVE RETURNED NOW (from the upside down, that stupid demogorgon took me ugh) and I shall continue updating it asa I can. Until then, a short chapter that I just wrote this morning. Also, I'm thinking about skipping the entire Wizengamont thing and heading straight to their Eighth year? What'd guys think? Let me know in the comments section below.

Also I'd like to mention to all you drarry lovers that I now have a roleplay account on instagram where me and my friend (and many others) rp as Draco and Harry (and other characters from hp). If you wish, do have a look at our accounts. Mine is **realdracomalfoyy**. Thank you and Have a good day y'all.

Much love,

Dranne.


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